Mumbai mosques challenge loudspeaker removals in HC, allege discrimination

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, July 3, demanded a response from the Maharashtra government to an appeal filed by the Anjuman Ittehad o Taraqqui Madinah Jama Masjid and others representing multiple masjids, dargahs, and religious sites across Mumbai.

The appeal challenged the removal of Azaan loudspeakers from mosques throughout the city. The petition challenges the police action carried out against mosques, alleging that notices issued to mosques did not cite any violations of standing legislation as a basis.

The petitioners claimed the revocation of loudspeaker licenses amounted to selective, biased targeting of Muslim places of worship.

A bench comprising Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice MM Sathye issued a notice seeking responses from the state, police, and other stakeholders.

The responses are to be submitted by July 9. Several Muslim places of worship received notices without any particulars of alleged violations of the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000.

Petitioners say police notices lacked evidence of noise rule violations

Petitioners argued that the notices did not include any reference to the “date and time of the alleged violations, and the measurement of decibels at the time of violation.”

Prior RTI queries were also cited by the petitioners in their appeal. RTI-sourced information has shown that Mumbai police lacks equipment for noise – measuring, suggesting that the notices were issued out of a prior agenda held by the police, rather than any actual violation.

Calling the police action “an instance of hostile discrimination”, the petitioners condemned the same as targeting the Muslim community at the behest of political actors.

Representing the five mosques that filed the petition, senior Advocate Yusuf Moochala and advocate Mubin Solkar further submitted that the arbitrary actions carried out by the state, including “imposing arbitrary fines, terminating subsisting licenses, refusing to renew the licenses and forcefully seizing the loudspeakers” in actuality violate the fundamental rights provided to all citizens under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, and 26 of the Constitution.

“It is the fundamental right of every person to carry on their religious beliefs and practices within the parameters of the sound decibels laid down under NPR, 2000,” argued the petitioners.

The petitioners also took issue with regards to the demand by the state for additional documents to verify loudspeaker licenses.

The April 11 notice as issued by the Maharashtra government demands ownership documents and land registration titles as a precondition for a loudspeaker license, the petitioners hold that this arbitrary bureaucratic barricade is a “fishing inquiry” by the state, reflecting a non-commitment to “preventing noise pollution”.

State accused of targeting Muslim institutions under political pressure

Providing a basis for the religious and spiritual importance of the Islamic call to prayer, the petitioners elaborated that Azaan “is positioned among the mandatory practices of Islamic ritual and this vital spiritual purpose cannot be served without the means of an amplifier/loudspeaker.”

The infrequent timings of Azaan, along with its short duration, is proof of its inability to cause noise pollution as per the petitioners.

The petitionary proceedings of today are rooted in a Bombay HC order from January 2025 which demanded that police ensure all religious institutions function within noise pollution guidelines as prescribed by existing legislation.

However, actions taken since April have led to 1,500 mosque loudspeakers being removed, leading to questions being raised about targeted discrimination against Mumbai’s Muslims.

The issue culminated in Deputy CM Pawar’s meeting on June 25 with a delegation of cross party Muslim political leaders, including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) national spokesperson Waris Pathan, Samajwadi Party state president Abu Asim Azmi, and many Muslim leaders from the ruling Nationalist Congress Party.