The Uttarakhand High Court directed the District Magistrate of Dehradun to investigate the issues raised by a litigant regarding the use of loudspeakers at a city mosque.

The litigant has claimed that the noise levels exceed the ambient standards set for the area and has been advised to submit a formal representation for further action.

The single-headed bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari, was reviewing a civil contempt petition filed by Pan Singh Rawat. The petition was against the District Administration for failing to adhere to a March 31, 2023 order from the high court, which had instructed the authorities to "examine" Rawat's grievance in accordance with an August 10, 2020 order issued in a separate PIL.

Last year, the high court instructed the authorities to carry out surprise inspections of the mosque in question on at least ten separate occasions throughout the day. They were required to record the decibel levels and the sound emitted during these checks. The findings from these inspections, along with the authorities' response, were to be submitted to the court.

 "no loudspeaker or public-address system shall be used by any person including religious bodies in Temples, Mosques, and Gurudwaras without written permission of the authority even during day time, that too, by getting an undertaking that the noise level shall not exceed by more than 5dB(A) peripheral noise level above the ambient noise standards specified for the area in which it is used at the boundaries of the private place".

The petitioner argued that since no steps had been taken to comply with the court's orders, this amounted to contempt of court.

The court instructed that in his representation, the petitioner should highlight the previous court orders from the 2015 PIL and the March 2023 plea, drawing the District Magistrate's attention to these directives.

“If petitioner makes representation, within ten days' from today, District Magistrate, Dehradun shall look into the matter and take decision, as per law, within four months' thereafter. It goes without saying that the persons likely to be affected by the decision, shall also be heard," the court said.

The court thereafter disposed of the contempt plea.

Case Title: Pan Singh Rawat Vs. Sonika, CLCON No.296 of 2024