HC refuses to quash administration's order denying permission to use loudspeaker for 'azan'

No one can claim that it is their fundamental right to create noise, the Allahabad High Court has observed while declining to quash an order of Jaunpur district administration which refused permission to use loudspeaker for 'azan' in two mosques.

A bench comprising justices Pankaj Mithal and V C Dixit dismissed a petition filed by Masroor Ahmad of Jaunpur against the June 12, 2019 order by a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) refusing permission for use of amplifiers and loudspeakers in two mosques of Baddopur and Shahganj villages for azan (call of prayers).

The bench, after going through the SDM's order, said, "It becomes quite evident that the petitioners have been refused permission to use sound amplifying system at the mosque not only for the inherent reason of noise pollution but in order to maintain peace and tranquillity in the area."
"It is a cardinal principle of an exercise of equitable jurisdiction that the High Court in such exercise should maintain social balance by interfering where necessary, refusing where it is against social interest and public good."
Dismissing the petition, the court said, "It is not the case of the petitioner in the entire writ petition that the installation of such sound equipment is not likely to cause any tension in the locality between the two groups and that law and order situation does not demand such refusal of permission."