Delhi HC dismisses 5G plea, fines Juhi Chawla and 2 others

The high court, irked by repeated disruptions in the previous June 2 hearing, also pulled up Chawla for posting the link for the court’s digital proceeding on social media and said that the plaintiffs “abused and misused the process of law”.

The Delhi high court on Friday came down heavily on actor Juhi Chawla and two other complainants for filing a plea against the installation of 5G wireless network in the country, and issued a fine of ₹20 lakh for a “defective” suit aimed at “gaining publicity”.

The high court, irked by repeated disruptions in the previous June 2 hearing, also pulled up Chawla for posting the link for the court’s digital proceeding on social media and said that the plaintiffs “abused and misused the process of law”.

“…plaintiffs have filed the suit to gain publicity which is clear from the fact that plaintiff no 1 (Chawla) circulated the video conferencing link of this court on her social media accounts, which resulted in repeated disruptions of court proceedings,” Justice JR Midha said, dismissing the plea.

On Wednesday, the online hearing of the Delhi high court was interrupted three times by a user who sang songs from Chawla’s hit movies in the ’90s. Justice Midha then directed court officials to bar the user from the video conference and directed authorities to identify the disrupter and issue a contempt notice. The actor-environmentalist has posted the link for the video conference a day before on her Twitter account encouraging people to participate. Chawla and social workers Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani moved the court on Monday, claiming that 5G technology can trigger serious, irreversible effect on humans with radiation and permanent damage to the natural ecosystems.

According to the World Health Organization, no adverse health effect has been “causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies” despite several studies over the issue.

The judge said that the plea was not maintainable as the plaintiffs had no knowledge about the issues of health risks that were being raised. The suit is “stuffed with unnecessary, scandalous, frivolous and vexatious averments”, justice Midha said, underscoring that the complainants should have first reached out to the government with their concerns before approaching the court.