NEW DELHI:
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed shock at the conduct of Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla and two others for “not willing to gracefully deposit” a penalty of ₹20 lakh imposed on them for filing a ‘frivolous’ plea against the rollout of 5G technology in India.
Justice J.R. Midha granted Ms. Chawla and two others petitioners a week’s time to deposit the penalty.
The court, which was hearing the actor’s application for refund of court fees, waiver of penalty and replacing the word ‘dismissed’ in the judgment with ‘rejected’, said it was “shocked at the conduct of the plaintiffs”.
“I was shocked...This court took a lenient view and did not issue contempt when case was made out...You say the court had no power to impose costs [but] court has the power to issue contempt,” Justice Midha remarked over Ms. Chawla’s latest application.
Last month, the High Court, while rejecting her suit against the rollout of 5G technology in India, had termed the plea as a publicity stunt and done without any personal knowledge of the issue.
“The plaint is stuffed with unnecessary, scandalous, frivolous and vexatious averments which are liable to be struck down,” the court had said.
The actor, in her plea, had sought a scientific study of any adverse effects of radio-frequency radiation emitted by cellular telecommunications using 5G technology on ‘health, life, organ or limb of adult or child, or to flora and fauna’ before its official rollout in the country.
