Cops to remove loudspeakers at religious places in UP after Allahabad HC order

The Allahabad High Court directed the state police to take down all the loudspeakers that have been installed at religious places without the requisite permission from authorities.

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Sunday directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to remove loudspeakers installed at all the religious places in the state in an attempt to curb the noise pollution.

The court directed the police to take down all the loudspeakers that have been installed without the requisite permission from authorities, said a report.

In addition, it maintained that on any particular occasion, prior permission has to be taken from authorities to play loudspeakers. 

As per a report, the court had earlier questioned the Uttar Pradesh saying, "Who has given the order for the use of loudspeakers at religious places".

Following the court's direction, the Uttar Pradesh IG (Law and Order) issued an instruction to the SP-SSP to follow the order of the High Court.

Last month in December, tension prevailed in Bijnor's Madanpur after the Allahabad high court ordered the administration to remove loudspeakers, installed without the requisite permission, from a mosque and the Ravidass temple with immediate effect. 

The order, however, invited objections from the Muslim community, who attemtped to prevent the police from taking down the loudspeaker. It was removed later only after heavy deployment of police force. 

It should be noted that the villagers had approached the High Court in this regard as they had clashed with each other over loudspeakers installed at each other's religious sites.

There has been a long dispute between the two communities over the installation of loudspeakers on the mosque and the temple in the village.

During the hearing of one of the petitions on the matter, the Allahabad High Court had ordered the administration to find out if the temple and the mosque had permission to install loudspeakers in their premises, and if not, these be removed.