Mumbai: SHRC Pulls Up ACS Of Home Dept For Failing To File Its Reply In ‘Mosque Noise Pollution’ Case

The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has pulled up the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the Home department for failing to participate in a meeting held to decide the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in a case of noise pollution, allegedly caused by several mosques across the metropolitan region. The SHRC maintained that it was surprised that no responsible officer from the Home department had intimated the meeting to the department even after the fact that the ACS was one of the respondents in the case. 

The commission presided over by Justice K K Tated and M A Sayeed, in its suo-motu had asked the ACS, Home department, the Director General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, to come together, hold a meeting and discuss the matter of the alleged noise pollution created by the Mosques. The intervener in the case, Dr Uday Dhuri, had raised a few issues in his (intervening)complaint to which all the other departments except for the Home department had filed their respective affidavits. 

The commission thus has asked the ACS to abide by the orders and has also asked the department to ensure that a proper senior responsible officer, who has been well instructed, should be deputed to the commission on its next date, for the commission to conduct the inquiry in the case. 

The SHRC had taken a suo-motu cognizance of news published in a vernacular newspaper, with regard to the noise pollution allegedly created by the mosques. The commission held, “The article dated February 24, 2023, highlighted the topic of noise pollution from several mosques in the metropolitan region resulting in inconvenience, not only to the public and disturbs the concentration of the students, but has repercussions on their careers too. The article focused on the patent illegality of the sounds coming from the loudspeakers exceeding more than 120 decibels, which was five times a day.”