Supreme Court allows operation of new Noise Pollution Rules, stays Bombay HC order

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the order of the Bombay High Court which halted the Central Government’s new noise pollution rules from coming into force..A Bench of Justices AS Oka, Anoop Mohta and Riyaz Chagla of the Bombay High Court, had stayed the operation of the Noise Pollution (Regulation And Control) Amendment, Rules, 2017 which gave discretionary powers to the state governments to declare silent zones as per ground realities..The Union of India filed a petition against the stay order of the High Court, which held that any area within a distance of 100 meters from a school, clinic or court was deemed to be treated as a silent zone and no state, private or religious celebrations using loud speakers, public address systems, sound producing instruments or fire crackers could be held in the said silent zone..Appearing for the Centre, ASG Tushar Mehta contended that due to expansive definitions of terms like ‘schools’ and ‘hospitals’ under the said rules, the entire city of Mumbai would have to be deemed as a silent zone as a result of the High Court’s order..He stated that there could be no state, private or religious celebrations in the entire city due to the impugned order and that the order can give rise to law and order problems and public unrest especially during the ongoing Ganesh Utsav celebrations in Maharashtra. The usage of loud speakers etc. during the processions of Visarjan(immersion of idols) has remained an essential religious and customary practice for a very long time, Mehta argued..He further stated that there was a grave urgency in the matter as the Visarjan was on September 5 and in the absence of a stay on the impugned order, the state would be compelled to either stop the use of loud speakers and other instruments at Ganesh Pandals or would have to prosecute sponsors of the Pandals for violating the order..Mehta cited another amusing example with regard to the ramifications of the impugned order. He said that the Supreme Court Bar Association would also not be able to hold any farewell functions for the judges as the court lawns fall within 100 meters of the court’s precincts..With regard to the constitutional position, the ASG submitted that though Article 21 confers upon the citizens a right to live in a noise-free environment Article 25 also confers upon citizens a liberty to propagate ones views, expressions and celebrate festivals and other cherished occasions by using loud speakers and other instruments..Mehta stated that the impugned ad-interim order completely distorts the delicate balance of the aforesaid competing fundamental rights of the citizens and foists a completely undesirable and inhabitable condition upon the citizens..The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud stayed the order passed by the Bombay High Court and directed the High Court to not proceed with the matter till the same was heard by the Supreme Court..Advocate Gaurav Agarwal appeared for the respondent, Ajay Marathe, while Senior Advocate CU Singh appeared for the intervenor who was heard in the High Court..The matter is now listed for hearing on September 22..Earlier in the same matter, the Maharashtra Government had tendered an apology to Justice Oka and withdrew its application moved before the Chief Justice wherein it was contended that Justice Oka was “harbouring a serious bias against the state machinery.”.Justice Oka, by his order, had admonished the state for its actions but ultimately accepted the apology tendered by the state government..Read the Supreme Court order below..Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App