The Delhi High Court on Thursday reduced the costs imposed on actress-environmentalist Juhi Chawla in relation to a lawsuit challenging 5G wireless network technology – from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh reduced the fine after the cine star volunteered to work with Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) for the cause of marginalized women and children.
During the last hearing on Tuesday, the bench said it will consider reducing the fine on the condition that she should do some public work. Her celebrity status should be implied for some good of society. She could do a program for the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA), the court had said.
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Notably, in today’s order, the bench also expunged the adverse remarks made against Chawla by the single-judge J.R. Midha who had said in his order that the suit by Chawla was frivolous and filed for publicity.
“Having perused the impugned order on record, it appears to us that the plaintiffs, who do not come from a legal background, should not be made to share the blame or consequences for the manner in which the suit and applications were drafted. The single-judge was also disturbed by the fact that the link of the hearing was circulated to the public at large which led to the proceedings getting disrupted,” the court said in the order.
The court’s observation was in the light of the last year’s hearing of Chawla’s suit, which was disturbed by unknown persons who were singing Bollywood songs of films in which she had acted. The court had directed the Delhi Police to identify the people and proceed against them under the law.
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On June 4 last year, Justice J.R. Midha had dismissed her lawsuit against the setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country. Her plea stated the levels of RF radiation are 10 to 100 times greater than the existing levels. It also claimed that the 5G wireless technology can be a potential threat to provoke irreversible and serious effects on humans and it could also permanently damage the earth’s ecosystems.
The court had held that the suit filed by Chawla and two others were defective, non-maintainable, and also contained unverified and vexatious assertions and also imposed the fine.
Hence, it allowed Chawla to carry on with her pursuit against 5G before an appropriate forum.
On January 21, the DSLSA approached the court seeking the execution of the order, in which Chawla and two others were directed to deposit a Rs 20 lakh fine.
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