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PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court has held that “azaan” (the call to ritual prayer in Islam) can be recited from the minarets of mosques by human voice only and without the use of any amplifying device or loudspeaker.
The court added that such recitation by human voice cannot be hindered under the pretext that it violates the guidelines issued by the state government to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pronouncing the judgment on Friday, the court also held that “azaan” may be an essential part of Islam but its recitation through a loudspeaker or other amplifying device cannot be said to be an integral part of the religion and warranting protection of the fundamental right enshrined under Article 25 of the Constitution (right to religious freedom), which even otherwise is subject to public order, morality and health, and other provisions of the Constitution. Thus, under no circumstances can sound-amplifying devices be permitted to be used between 10pm and 6am by the district administration.
“It cannot be said that a citizen should be coerced to hear anything which he does not like or which he does not require since it amounts to taking away the fundamental right of the other person,” the court further observed.
Disposing of a PIL filed by Gh