Action sought against illegal loudspeakers installed at religious places

The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), a right wing organisation, has demanded compliance of the Bombay High Court's ruling given in 2016, in which it had directed removal of illegal loudspeakers installed at religious places, including mosques, in Maharashtra.

It also demanded strict action against the police who failed to act on the high court's order in this regard.

"The Maharashtra police did not comply with the high court's clear order given in 2016 to remove unauthorised loudspeakers from all religious places in the state on the public interest litigation filed by us. Therefore, in 2018, we again filed a contempt petition in the high court against that. The plea could not be heard during the coronavirus pandemic," petitioner Santosh Pachalag from Navi Mumbai was quoted as saying in a release.

"However, in order to give justice to people, the contempt petition should be heard as soon as possible and strict action should be taken against the police for violating the rules and for not following the court order," he said.

He was speaking in an online interaction organised by the HJS on 'Why doesn't the court order apply to the loudspeakers on mosques?'.

Speaking during the interaction, Supreme Court lawyer Gaurav Goyal said, "Action should have been taken after the court order against the unauthorised loudspeakers on mosques. This has caused the contempt of the court. The use of loudspeakers by mosques is causing a lot of noise pollution and affecting the citizens."

HJS spokesperson Narendra Surve said, "Among Muslims, there are many sects like Wahhabi, Sunni, Shia, Salafi and they do not go to each others' mosque. Therefore, when one azaan (call for prayer) ends, that of other's starts...Political leaders do not tackle this problem of illegal bells to appease Muslims.