The Bombay High Court has asked the Gausiya Mosque Trust to be impleaded as a respondent in the case concerning a plea against the use of loudspeakers. The court was hearing an interim application seeking directions to the police to take steps against the noise pollution caused due to the use of loudspeakers multiple times a day by the Gausiya Mosque.
The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice GS Kulkarni, have listed the case for the next hearing on June 19. The Gausiya Mosque Trust and the State have to file replies to the plea by June 9.
The applicant has argued that the aggrieved area is a silence zone due to the presence of ESIS Hospital nearby. The applicant further submitted that the police failed to take action against the use of loudspeakers on her complaints dated May 8 and May 12, against the mosque’s use of loudspeakers early morning.
The Gausiya Mosque Trust’s counsel, Senior Advocate Rizwan Merchant, has argued that the mosque is not in a silence zone as the hospital has shifted 2.5 km away. Furthermore, the state’s counsel APP JP Yagnik submitted that the Mumbai Police has allowed the mosque to use loudspeakers till May 31, subject to certain conditions.
It is pertinent to note that the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 provide that an area within 100 metres of educational institutions, hospitals and courts might be declared as a silence zone. The Rules were amended in 2017 with a proviso stating that the no area would be a silence zone unless notified by the State government. The state informed the court that the aggrieved area is not a notified silence zone.
Delivering Azaan on Loudspeakers Not a Fundamental Right
On May 6, 2022, the Allahabad High Court ruled that delivering azaan on loudspeakers is not a fundamental right. The court was hearing a plea seeking permission to play azaan on loudspeakers in Noori Masjid.
“The law has now been settled that use of loudspeaker from mosque is not a fundamental right. Ever otherwise a cogent reason has been assigned in the impugned order. Accordingly, we find that the present petition is patently misconceived, hence the same is dismissed,” said the court.
The court further said that although azaan is an integral part of Islam, it stated that delivering it through loudspeakers is not a part of the religion. “Azaan is an integral part of Islam, but giving it through loudspeakers is not a part of Islam,” a bench headed by Justice BK Vidla and Justice Vikas said.
Ruling on the petition, a two-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court noted that there have been previous instances where courts have ruled that the call for prayer on a loudspeaker is not a fundamental right.
Azaan is the Islamic call to prayers which is given five times at prescribed times of the day. A muezzin is a person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer five times a day at a mosque.
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