'Defective, Vexatious' : Delhi High Court Dismisses Juhi Chawla's Civil Suit Against 5G Roll Out With Rs 20 Lakhs Cost

Imposing a heavy cost of Rupees 20 lakhs on actor Juhi Chawla , the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed her civil suit against 5G Roll out as "defective and not maintainable""Vexatious allegations were made", a single bench of Justice J R Midha noted in the order."It appears suit was filed for publicity. Juhi Chawla circulated link of the hearing on social media", the Court observed in the order.The Court has also directed issuance of contempt show-cause notice against persons who barged into the virtual hearing and sang songs from Juhi Chawla's films while the hearing was in progress."They(plaintiffs) have abused and misused process of law. Plaintiffs are directed to deposit cost of 20 lakhs within one week. DSLSA to utilise it for cause of victims of road accidents. If any proceedings are instituted, this judgement be produced before the court. It appears plaintiffs have filed this suit for publicity, which is clear by the plaintiff 1 sharing links of the hearing on her social media, which lead to multiple disruptions in the hearing", the Court noted in the order.The Court rejected the prayer made by the plaintiffs' counsel for stay on costs. Justice Midha told the counsel that the matter is already over and that as a counsel he "should know his limits".The court held that the Plaintiffs' suit was valued at at Rs. 2 crore for jurisdiction, therefore, the valuation had to be the same for Court fee. Over Rs 1 lakh should have been paid. Challenge to the Court Fee Act is not permitted under CPC.The Court further held that notice under S.80 CPC is a mandatory provision and the Plaintiffs' contention that it is an empty formality is rejected.The Court also said that the Plaintiffs have failed to make out a case for leave to institute the suit or to sue in representative capacity. Therefore, the plaint is defective and not maintainable.BackgroundThe Court had on Wednesday reserved its order on applications filed in Bollywood actress and environmentalist Juhi Chawla's suit against the roll-out of 5G telecommunication services in the country. Calling the plaint a "defective plaint", a single Bench of Justice Midha had remarked that suit filed by plaintiffs totally appeared to be a 'Media Publicity Suit'. The present suit has been filed by Juhi Chawla and others seeking restraints upon the Union Government from taking any steps for the roll-out of 5G telecommunication services in the country, including, but not limited to steps for spectrum allocation, licensing, etc on grounds of long and short term harm to human, animal and plant life and detrimental impact on the environment at large.Submissions Made By The Counsels During The Hearing : Advocate Deepak Khosla appearing for the plaintiffs submitted that they are not attacking the 5G policy, but attacking its implementation and the 5G roll out in the manner in which it is being done, where on one hand public money is being squandered for conducting study, and on other hand without waiting for studies to be completed, 5G is being implemented.Mr Khosla had made the submission in response to Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal's argument regarding the launch of 5G being a matter of policy of government."Mr Sibal says launching 5G is matter of policy and I cannot attack policy. I am not attacking the 5G policy, I am attacking the implementation of policy" Khosla had said."I welcome advancements in science and technology but do it right. Do not do it in a manner that some people benefit at the risk of lives and health of others. No where have I said ban government from implementing 5G" Khosla added.Khosla had also stated that the wrongful act in the present case is the omission of regulatory authorities to discharge their statutory duties and finish studies on which they have squandered money."If you want studies done then that means you are not sure and if you are not sure how can you permit roll outs of very service whose health hazards you are not sure about!" Khosla had remarked."5G roll out actually has not happened but equally damaging, trials involving human population has started. This is not trials on pigs or rats or in empty Thar Dessert, or employees of defendants themselves. These are trial on human population." Khosla said during the hearing.Advocate Khosla, referring to his first application regarding Court fees, had submitted that due to Covid constraints, partial Court fees has been payed, and asked Court to grant time to comply with the rest."We have proposed Court fee of Rs 12210 Rs. However there is a convention that suits coming to Delhi High Court cannot come in below Court fees 2 Lakhs. As far as appropriate amount is concerned in our humble opinion it should be 12210. " Khosla said.He had added that if amount of Court fee found appropriate by Court is different from Rs 12210, his advice may be preserved where he would pay the Court fee under protest.Referring to the application filed under Section 80 CPC which required them to serve prior notice and ...

'Defective, Vexatious' : Delhi High Court Dismisses Juhi Chawla's Civil Suit Against 5G Roll Out With Rs 20 Lakhs Cost

Srishti Ojha

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