Festival din: HC contempt notices for 2 cops

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday issued notices for contempt of court to two assistant commissioners of police of Borivli division and Ulhasnagar for not taking action on “specific complaints“ of noise during recent festivals.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Amjad Sayed noted that these officers are authorized under the Noise Pollution Rules (NPR) to take action on complaints but had failed to do so.The judges also rapped the state for taking action only in respect of 11 out of 61complaints of noise in Mum bai forwarded by a petitioner, Awaaz Foundation, in respect of violations during Dahi Handi, Ganpati and Navratri festivals. The non-government organization said there was gross breach of the court's final judgment in August for implementation of NPR.
The bench pointed out that panchnama was drawn only in one case. “We find that in no case action of stopping the use of loudspeakers was taken by the police,“ it added. The bench said complaints came from prominent places in the city, including near Sena Bhavan„ Hill Road, Bandra lake, Juhu Tara Road, Dadar TT and Lalbaug.
The bench lamented there is hardly any implementation of its directions to implement noise pollution norms in Mumbai. “In fact, some of the places are in silence zones,“ it said.
The bench directed the state chief secretary to personally look into the matter and, if necessary , hold a meeting with officers concerned. The chief secretary has to file a personal affidavit on steps the government proposes to take to ensure strict implementation of the court's August judgment.