New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Friday (May 15) gave an important ruling while hearing a petition filed in connection with the prohibition of Azan from mosques in three districts of Ghazipur, Hathras, and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. The court revoked the order of the District Magistrates of these districts and allowed oral Azans from mosques without using loudspeakers.
A bench of justices Shashi Kant Guipta and Ajit Kumar granted the relief to the Muslim community saying "Azan may be an essential and integral part of Islam" but its "recitation through loudspeakers or other sound-amplifying devices cannot be said to be an integral part of the religion."
The ruling was pronounced on a bunch of pleas, including those of former Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Lok Sabha member from Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari, among others.
The HC bench ruled, "We are of the considered opinion that Azan can be recited by Muezzin (mosque caretakers) from minarets of the mosques by human voice without using any amplifying device and the administration is directed not to cause hindrance in the same on the pretext of the guidelines to contain the pandemic COVID-19."
The court directed that under no circumstances can the district administration allow the use of loudspeakers from 10 pm to 6 am, adding that it would be necessary to seek permission from the administration to recite Azan from a mosque through a loudspeaker. It would be illegal to recite Azan through a loudspeaker without the permission of the administration.
The DM of Ghazipur banned Azan from mosques during Ramzan through an oral amid coronavirus lockdown. BSP MP from Ghazipur Afzal Ansari complained against this order by sending a letter to the High Court via email. Along with this, Senior Advocate of Supreme Court Syed Wasim Qadri also filed a petition. A similar case also came from Hathras and Farrukhabad districts.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid also filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court against the similar ban imposed in Hathras and Farrukhabad districts.
