Actor Juhi Chawla, on Thursday, withdrew her plea in connection with the dismissal of her lawsuit against 5G wireless network technology in India from the Delhi High Court, Telegraph reported. The plea moved by Chawla sought that her petition against 5G rollout be declared ‘rejected’ instead of ‘dismissed’.
Justice Jayant Nath allowed the withdrawal of the plea.
In the plea, Chawla’s lawyer had argued that the petition filed by the actor against 5G rollout never went up to the level of a suit and could therefore only be rejected or returned in terms of the Civil Procedure Code, and not dismissed.
The application for refund of court fees in the case was also withdrawn by Chawla. The court granted a week’s time for the deposit of Rs 20 lakh costs after Chawla decided to not press the application for its waiver.
Earlier, the actor, along with other plaintiffs, had challenged the Rs 20 lakh costs imposed on them in relation to the petition they had filed against the rollout of 5G technology in India. Justice Midha, while dismissing the plea, had said, “For the first time in my judicial career, I’m seeing a party not willing to pay court fees!”
On May 31, Chawla, along with Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani, moved the Delhi High Court against the proposal to set up 5G network in India. They had said that until the short-term and long-term negative impacts of the technology on human, animal, and plant life were known, its rollout should not be approved.
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Chawla had filed a 5,000-page lawsuit with 33 parties as defendants, including the Science and Engineering Research Board, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Electronics and Information, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Indian Council of Medical Research, some universities, and the World Health Organization.
The petition was, however, dismissed by the court which said the plea was “defective and done for media publicity.” The court, while dismissing the plea, had stated that the actor, and the other plaintiffs, abused the process of law and imposed costs of Rs 20 lakh, including unpaid court fees, on them. The same was to be deposited within a week. But, Chawla and the plaintiffs had sought for a refund of court fees and waiver of costs.