The Mumbai Police on Saturday booked two mosques in the Bandra and Link Road area of Mumbai for not complying with the Supreme Court orders regarding the usage of loudspeakers. The Nurani mosque in Bandra and Cemetery mosque in Santacruz were caught using loudspeakers between 10 pm to 6 am and violating the decibel limit while playing the speakers between 6 am to 10 pm.
The Supreme Court in the year 2005 had issued an order in which it had banned the usage of loudspeakers from 10 pm to 6 am in public places. However, it had said that if a loudspeaker is playing from 6 am to 10 pm, it is mandatory to follow the decibel rules. The court had then considered the serious effects of noise pollution on the health of the people living in the nearby areas.
The action by Mumbai Police comes a day after it granted permission to 950 out of 1140 Mosques to use the loudspeaker for prayers. The Police said that it had permitted the religious places to use loudspeakers only after verifying the credentials of the applicants and the purpose and that the Mosques in the city had assured to follow the Apex court and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) guidelines.
As reported, the Mumbai Police received applications from 1,140 mosques across the city to seek permission to use loudspeakers for reciting Azaan. The applications started coming in the past two weeks, especially after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray raked up the issue and called upon the state government to pull down loudspeakers from atop the mosques across the state.
Thackeray in his Aurangabad rally on May 1 had warned that if the loudspeakers were not taken down from atop the mosques from May 4, his party workers would play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers in front of the mosques. Reportedly, many of the MNS workers played Hanuman Chalisa during the morning Azaan time in Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, and other parts of Maharashtra. They were detained by the Police on the charges of disturbing peace and harmony.
In the current case the management of the Nurani mosque in Bandra and Cemetery mosque in Santacruz have been charged under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 37 (1), (3), 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act. An offence has also been registered under Section 33 (R) (3) of the Law and Noise Prohibition Rules.