Agartala: A Tripura High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice AK Singh and Justice Arindam Lodh on Wednesday directed the state government to strictly follow the Court’s 2014 judgment pertaining to installation of limiter in sound systems, Advocate General of Tripura Siddharth Sankar Dey has said.
The High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Anal Roy Chowdhury, editor of a vernacular daily ‘Pratibadi Kalam’. The substance of the PIL was related to the noise pollution caused by loud music producing sound systems omnipresent in Puja celebrations and health hazards associated with it.
Speaking on the issue, Advocate General of Tripura Siddhartha Sankar Dey said, “The main substance of the PIL was that the noise pollution doesn’t act as an impediment in the Durga Puja celebrations. Questions were raised on the use of sound boxes, speakers and DJ sets that have become part and parcel of the Puja celebrations nowadays.”
According to Dey, the court was of the opinion that the High Court of Tripura had already passed an order back in 2014. The court put a ceiling of 65 decibels for all such loud music producing electronic equipment.
“There is a strict rule regarding use of sound systems as per the 2014 order of the High Court. Any sound system which produces noise more than that of 65 decibel is banned. And, hence the concept of sound limiter was introduced. All music equipment should have sound limiters installed in it otherwise it couldn’t be used, sold, rented or bought,” Dey added.
Speaking on the present high court order, Dey said, “The High Court division bench today heard the Public Interest Litigation and asked the administration to seize all high noise producing machines which are being operated without a limiter. It has also warned the administration that if the order was not adhered to, the consequences might be stringent in nature.”
Advocate Subrata Sarkar, who represented the Court in favour of the litigant said, “The High Court in its 2014 order clearly stated that barring specific 15 days in a year, no one is permitted to play loud music using sound systems between 10 pm to 6 am in the morning. For those 15 days there was relaxation of two hours. And, installation of sound limiters was mandatory. The division bench has asked the authorities to follow the previous order. The Advocate General had appeared before the Court and received the notice of the court. He had assured the court that he would make the appropriate authorities aware about the Court ruling.”
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