Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday asked advocate Reena Richard to add the masjid as a respondent to her plea alleging inaction on the part of Samta Nagar Police Station against noise from a mosque at Thakur village in Kandivali (East). A division bench of Chief Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice Girish Kulkarni asked Richard to add the masjid as respondent even as the Gausiya Masjid Trust sought to intervene in the matter.
Rizwan Merchant, advocate for the trust, argued that the ESIS hospital, because of which the area was a silence zone, has been shifted 5kms away. After the hospital shifted, the masjid raised the volume of the loudspeaker on May 3.
Additional PP to court: Area is no longer a silent zone
Additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik informed the court that a notification has been issued declaring the area is no longer a silent zone. Richard alleged that the noise starts at 5am. The bench said that the trust was entitled to file a reply. The court said it will consider all the contentions after the reply is filed. The court was informed that the permission is granted on a monthly basis for use of loudspeakers. The same expires on May 31.
The court has said that application for a subsequent period to be made and it is to be decided on its own merits and directions of law. The court has directed the respondent to produce all relevant circulars for deciding loudspeaker permission. The court has asked the trust to file the reply by June 9 and kept the matter for hearing on June 12.
Richard filed a petition stating that she had made several police complaints and even posted live videos on social media to show that loudspeakers are used during early hours. Her petition said there is an ESIS Hospital nearby. She had filed a petition in 2017 to stop the noise. Following a contempt petition by Richard in 2018, the loudspeakers were removed. She once again filed a plea in May 2022 alleging that the loudspeakers were back.
