The Allahabad High Court on Friday, 6 May, while dismissing a plea which sought permission to play loudspeaker during azan, said that the use of a loudspeaker from a mosque is not a "fundamental right".
The petition was filed by a Budaun man who wanted permission to play a loudspeaker from a mosque during azan, the Islamic call for prayer, situated at village Dhoranpur in the district.
The court added that the petition was “patently misconceived” and thus dismissed.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Kumar and Vikas Budhwar on Wednesday, 4 May, said that “The law has now been settled that use of a loudspeaker from mosque is not a fundamental right. Even otherwise, a cogent reason has been assigned in the impugned order."
Irfan of Budaun district had filed a petition praying that the court quash the rejection order dated 3 December 2021, by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Bisauli tehsil, through which he was denied permission to use the loudspeaker from Noori Masjid at the time of azan.
Irfan's counsel argued that the SDM’s order "is wholly illegal and violates the fundamental and legal rights of the petitioner to run loudspeaker from the mosque."
This comes amid the continuing drive against loudspeakers, days after the Uttar Pradesh Police said that as many as 53,942 loudspeakers had been removed from various religious places across the state as of Sunday, 1 May, as per the directions of the Yogi Adityanath government.
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