The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition seeking direction to the state authorities to allow installation of loudspeakers on a mosque. Dismissing the petition of Mukhtiyar Ahmed of Pilibhit district, a bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice D. Ramesh said that religious places are for prayers and the use of loudspeakers cannot be claimed as a right, especially when loudspeakers often create hindrances for the people living there.
During the hearing, the counsel for the state government objected to the maintainability of this writ petition, saying that the petitioner is neither the mutawalli (caretaker) of the mosque nor is he associated with that mosque. Finding merit in the argument of the state government’s counsel, the court said that the petitioner has no right to file this writ petition.
Playing loudspeakers is not a fundamental right
Earlier in May 2022, the Allahabad High Court had said in a judgment that now there is a provision in the law that playing loudspeakers from mosques is not a fundamental right. Therefore, relief cannot be given to the petitioner. On this basis, the court had refused to give relief to the petitioner in this case as well.
Use of loudspeaker for Azaan
However, the Gujarat High Court had said in November 2023 that the use of loudspeakers for Azaan in mosques does not cause noise pollution. Also, a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on its use was dismissed.
Noise pollution due to loudspeaker sound
Then the bench of Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P May had termed the petition as completely wrong and said, we fail to understand how the human voice giving Azaan through loudspeaker in the morning can reach the level of creating noise pollution, which can pose a health hazard to the common people.
