Silence, please: Remove illegal loudspeakers used in mosques says Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court has ordered that loudspeakers be removed from mosques that do not have requisite permission for the same in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. According to a report in Times of India, Navi Mumbai resident Santosh Pachalag had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) earlier in 2015 to raise the issue of “illegal use of loudspeakers” by Navi Mumbai mosques. A division bench of Justices VM Kanade and P D Kode, heard the PIL, and said that unauthorized loudspeakers, irrespective of whether they were used in mosques, Ganeshotsav or any festival, must be confiscated as they cause noise pollution. [caption id=“attachment_2438966” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “They are a source of continuous noise pollution. It is impossible to sleep during Ganeshotsav, particularly its last five days,” the report quoted Justice Kanade as saying. According to another report,  an RTI plea had unearthed that 45 of 49 mosques in the Navi Mumbai area didn’t have permission to use loudspeakers. Muslim leaders too have welcomed the court’s decision. “Azaan is mandatory to namaz, not the use of loudspeakers. Azaan should be sonorous and easy on the ears. If loudspeakers are inconveniencing fellow citizens, I would say the mosques should remove them before the police take action,” the report quoted senior community leader Dr MA Patankar as saying. The court had directed the police to prohibit religious places from using loudspeakers without requisite permit between 10 pm and 6 am and the police have already taken down loudspeakers form five mosques and two temples that did not have the required permission, a report in the Logical Indian says.