Juhi Chawla now 'welcomes 5G' in 1st reaction after court dismissed her plea

Juhi Chawla said the petitioners wanted government's certification that the 5G technology is safe. Nothing more, the actor said in a video released on Wednesday.

Actor-turned-environment activist Juhi Chawla on Wednesday released a video on social media platforms and said she is not against 5G technology. Instead, she welcomes 5G technology and her petition was only to seek the government's certification that 5G is safe, she said in the video. "In the hullabaloo of the past few days, I could not hear myself and the main message got lost," she said.

Juhi Chawla said she is not against 5G. She welcomes 5G but wants the government to certify the technology as safe for all.

"We are not against 5G. We are welcoming it. Please bring 5G. All we are asking is that the authorities should certify 5G safe. That's what we are saying... that please publish your research in the public domain. So that the fear of the general public is addressed. We just want to know it is safe for children, for pregnant women, for unborn children, for people who are old and infirm, for flora fauna," she said.

The Delhi high court on June 4 dismissed the plea and slapped a fine of 20 lakh on Juhi Chawla and the co-petitioners and said that the plea was only for publicity. The court noted that this plea was a "textbook case of how not to draft a plaint". That the actor shared the hearing link on her social media account, which led to several disruptions on the day she joined the hearing, also proves that it was for popularity, the court noted.

After the petition was dismissed, the Cellular Operators' Association of India said that 5G in India is safe. India has strict norms the radiation permitted in the country is one-tenth of what is globally accepted, the association said.