Noise pollution: Bombay HC issues notice for loudspeakers inside police station during Mahim dargah urus

Noise pollution: Bombay HC issues notice for loudspeakers inside police station during Mahim dargah urus
 MUSTAFA PLUMBER | Fri, 21 Apr 2017-02:45pm , DNA webdesk
​The court has questioned why the police violated noise pollution rules despite the area being demarcated as a silence zone. 
The Bombay High court on Friday issued a show cause notice of contempt against Assistant Commissioner of police (Mahim division) Shilvan Dhovale and senior police inspector Mahim, Milind Idekar for allowing the use of loudspeakers within the police station compound during the Mahim Dargah urus held last year. The court observed that it is a gross breach of the high court's judgments and orders and is a fit case for taking action against police officers concerned of ensuring implementation of noise pollution rules. 
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice A K Menon also directed the state to inform it by the month end about what action it proposes to take against the officers for violating noise pollution rules. 
Coming down heavily on the argument made by the government pleader that permission was granted for the use of loudspeakers and that the urus celebration which starts from Mahim police station has been going on since the year 1923, the bench said, "Does it give you (police) the right to violate the rules? Even when the area which is demarcated as a silence zone."
The directions were issued after activist Sumaira Abdulali filed a contempt petition against the police. She claimed that on December 13, 2016 on the first day of the urus, she had gone to record the noise level readings. She gave a written complaint to the police and then also wrote to the Mumbai police Commissioner. 
The police initially argued before the court that they had recorded the decibel levels outside the compound, but after Abdulali through her advocate showed pictures of loudspeakers used inside the police compound, the police accepted their mistake. The court then said "Prima facie this is a fit case for action against the officers and nobody will be spared." The police also tried to show to the court that the decibel metre used by Sumaira was not as per standards and did not have the means to record minimum and maximum sound limits, thus it cannot be relied upon. The court refuted the allegations after it found that acting on the complaint of Sumaira the police had recorded the decibel levels 15 minutes after. 
The court has now asked the two officers to reply to the show cause notice by June 9, while the state has been told to reply on the proposed action it is going to take by May 3. 


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