A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Calcutta High Court challenging police directions asking religious establishments in West Bengal to remove loudspeakers from their premises.
The PIL was mentioned for urgent hearing on Monday by Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay before a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Atarup Banerjee. The Bench said it would hear the matter on August 13.
Bandyopadhyay submitted that loudspeakers had been removed from mosques across West Bengal. The petition, filed by advocate Danish Farooqui, challenges what it describes as “blanket verbal directions” allegedly issued by police in Hooghly and other districts to various places of worship, including mosques and temples, requiring them to remove loudspeakers.
The plea alleges that the police issued the directions without written orders, notifications or legal authority and without first measuring the sound levels to determine whether the loudspeakers violated the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.
It contends that police officials were coercing the management of religious institutions to comply with the directions despite the absence of any established violation of noise pollution norms.
The petitioner has further argued that azaan, or the call to prayer, is an integral part of Islamic religious practice and is protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. The plea contends that a blanket prohibition on loudspeakers at religious places would therefore infringe the fundamental right to freedom of religion.
The petitioner has urged the High Court to quash the alleged verbal directions and permit the use of loudspeakers at religious places, subject to strict compliance with the applicable noise pollution regulations.
The plea describes the police action as arbitrary and contrary to principles of natural justice and the rule of law.
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