"Most frivolous application I have seen:" Delhi High Court on Juhi Chawla's pleas for waiver of Rs 20 lakh costs, refund of court fees in 5G case

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, took strong exception to fresh pleas filed by Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla seeking waiver of Rs. 20 lakh which was to be deposited by her as costs in relation to her plea against 5G rollout in the country [Juhi Chawla & ors vs Science and Engineering Research Board & ors ] .The Court also took a very unfavourable view of another application filed by Chawla seeking refund of court fees. .Justice JR Midha, who heard the matter, termed it the "most frivolous application" he has seen and reiterated his June 4 direction to deposit the costs. In its order, the Court expressed its shock at the conduct of the plaintiffs in the case."The Court is shocked with the conduct of the plaintiff. Firstly, this is a frivolous action and secondly, the Court has gracefully granted the plaintiffs permission to withdraw with application on costs which they haven't even deposited. Dispose of after the costs of Rs 20 lakh have been paid by the plaintiff," the Court said. .Juhi Chawla along with Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani (plaintiffs) had earlier filed a suit before the High Court, arguing that until and unless 5G technology is "certified safe", its roll out should not be permitted.They had argued that it was an established fact that there "could be danger of imminent nature" due to 5G and as per RTI responses, no studies had been conducted on the same.The Court had dismissed the same on June 4 while imposing cost of Rs. 20 lakh on Chawla and others, labelling it as 'frivolous litigation', an 'abuse of process of law' and a publicity stunt. The Court had also pointed out the several lapses in Chawla's plaint in terms of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) while dismissing the suit. .[BREAKING] "Suit was for publicity:" Delhi High Court dismisses plea by Juhi Chawla against 5G rollout, imposes costs of Rs 20 lakh.Chawla and other plaintiffs had then filed applications before the High Court for refund of court fees and waiver of costs.Senior Advocate Meet Malhotra, appearing on behalf of Chawla, however, did not press the application for waiver of costs. He said that the plaintiffs are merely seeking refund of the court fees now.The Bench was, however, far from impressed."In my entire career I'm yet to see a person who is not willing to pay the Court fees. This is the most frivolous application I have ever seen in my life, challenging court fees.""When will you deposit the court fees?" Justice Midha further demanded.Malhotra then withdrew the plea for refund of court fees as well..Did the Delhi High Court have jurisdiction under CPC to impose costs of Rs 20 lakh in Juhi Chawla’s suit?.Upon the counsel's request for more time to pay costs, the Court granted Chawla a week's time.A third application seeking replacement of the word "dismissed" in the judgement with "rejected" was also filed by Chawla.The Court ordered that the same be listed before Justice Sanjeev Narula on June 12, 2021 after costs are paid..Read full order here: