Inspector general of police (Prayagraj range) KP Singh has issued instructions to senior police and administrative officials of all four districts of his range —Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh and Fatehpur — to enforce a ban on the use of loudspeakers from 10pm to 6am as per the orders of the Allahabad high court delivered on May 15, 2020.
The instruction comes days after Allahabad University vice chancellor Prof Sangita Srivatasva’s letter to Prayagraj district magistrate Bhanu Chandra Goswami regarding the high volume of loudspeakers during azaan (call for prayer) at a mosque near her home causing great inconvenience to her.
Copies of her letter were sent to other top police and administration officials.
The IG (Prayagraj range) said a letter had been forwarded to the district magistrates and SSPs/ SPs of the four districts to strictly implement the instructions of the court, regarding playing of loudspeakers and public address systems which caused inconvenience to others.
He further said that officials of the four districts had been told to restrict playing loudspeakers at all religious places between 10pm to 6am. Action will be taken in case of violation.
“The high court has given clear instructions that azaan is a religious practice, but use of loudspeakers for giving azaan is not a fundamental right. Under the Pollution Act [Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000], use of loudspeakers and public address systems at public places is restricted during the nighttime. They can be used under special circumstances at halls, cultural programmes etc with special permission of officials concerned only. The loudspeakers cannot be played on a regular basis during the nighttime as it is restricted under the Pollution Act,” the IG said.
{{/usCountry}}“The high court has given clear instructions that azaan is a religious practice, but use of loudspeakers for giving azaan is not a fundamental right. Under the Pollution Act [Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000], use of loudspeakers and public address systems at public places is restricted during the nighttime. They can be used under special circumstances at halls, cultural programmes etc with special permission of officials concerned only. The loudspeakers cannot be played on a regular basis during the nighttime as it is restricted under the Pollution Act,” the IG said.
{{/usCountry}}Allahabad University (AU) vice chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava, through a letter dated March 3, had urged senior administrative and police officials of Prayagraj to get azaan through loudspeakers stopped, claiming that the early morning call for prayer from the loudspeaker of a mosque near her home was disturbing her sleep. The vice chancellor had cited headache and loss in work hours as fallout of the morning azaan while seeking a quick response, officials had confirmed.
Following the complaint, the mosque management committee on March 17 had changed the direction of one of the two loudspeakers on the minaret and also reduced the volume by half.
Kaleem-ur-Rehman, muttawali (caretaker) of Lal Masjid on Clive Road, had said that after being informed by the local police about the problem being faced by AU VC, the mosque management committee immediately decided to take steps to redress the issue.
“The volume of the system, which was already a decibel less than the norm set by the court, has been further reduced by half and direction of one of the loudspeakers has also been changed, so that it points away from the VC’s home,” he had said.
The muttawali said that if the VC had simply spoken to the members of the mosque management committee, then they would have been obliged as their aim was never to cause any inconvenience to anyone living near the mosque.