No, Nepal Supreme Court Has Not Banned Loudspeakers in Mosques

The SC had only asked the mosques to lower the volume of loudspeakers on 29 November, in response to a petition.

The Nepal SC had only asked the mosques to lower the volume of loudspeakers on 29 November 2020, in response to a petition.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Several social media users have claimed that the Supreme Court of Nepal has banned or criminalised loudspeakers in mosques.

Speaking to The Quint, journalist Deepak Adhikari stated that the case is still ongoing and the SC had only asked the mosques to lower the volume of loudspeakers on 29 November 2020, in response to a petition.

A spokesperson of the SC also confirmed to Adhikari that it was a temporary stay order, which did not criminalise loudspeakers.

CLAIM

A user shared the claim on Twitter, garnering over 9,500 likes and 1,900 retweets at the time of writing this article.

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Another user’s tweet had over 3,100 likes, at the time of writing this article.

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Several users on Facebook also shared the claim.

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

You can view an archived version here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

You can view the posts here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We found no credible news reports on the Nepal Supreme Court banning loudspeakers in Nepal or any information regarding such an order on the SC’s website.

Speaking to The Quint, Deepak Adhikari, Editor of South Asia Check, stated that the Supreme Court had ordered the mosques to lower their volumes in response to a petition seeking a ban. It had not criminalised loudspeakers in mosques at the time of writing this article.

The case number 077-WO-0422, regarding the matter, presided over by Justice Tej Bahadur KC, is still ongoing.

Further, Adhikari reached out to Nepal Supreme Court spokesperson, Bhadrakali Pokharel, on behalf of fact-checking site, AltNews, who confirmed that, “They have not banned loudspeakers.”

He further stated that the judge had passed a temporary stay order on 29 November 2020, to lower the sound of loudspeakers in mosques. Another hearing on the petition was scheduled on 10 December, but since the defence did not appear, it was cancelled.

Evidently, contrary to claims on social media, the Supreme Court of Nepal has not passed any order banning loudspeakers in mosques.

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