Temple Annual Festival: Kerala HC Permits Use Of Loudspeaker For 1 Hour After 10PM Deadline Provided Voice Doesn't Travel Beyond Its Premises

The petitioner is the President of the Temple and had approached the Court seeking permission to use the Public Address System from 10 PM to 12 PM on main two last days of their annual festival.

Justice Devan Ramachandran said the permission is subject to temple authorities' undertaking that the sound decibels would be reduced to such a level that it would not go beyond the premises of the Temple.

“The said Authority will scrupulously ensure that the volume is to kept to such level which will not create any problem or nuisance for any person outside the boundaries of the Temple; and I reiteratingly clarify that these directions are not to be construed as a precedent and are issued only in the specific factual circumstances presented”, stated the Court.

It found that the rules prescribing limitation to noise and its volume especially during night hours were meant to ensure a peaceful community living. "The Rules are intended to make sure that no one is prejudiced on account of the choices that a few people make with respect to the conduct or organisation of cultural programs and such other”, added the Court.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police had declined permission to use the Public Address System post 10 PM, aggrieved by which they have approached the Court. It also noted that the government had rejected the application for exemption sought by the Temple. 

The Government Pleader, Vidya Kuriakose submitted that the regulations regarding time frame were flexible only when loudspeakers were used in closed premises such as Auditoriums, Conference Rooms, Community Halls, Banquet Halls or during a public emergency. Relying upon Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 and the Apex Court decision in Forum for the Prevention of Envn. And Sound Pollution v.Union of India (2005), it was argued that the writ petition be dismissed.

The Court found that the police report states that permission to use loudspeakers during the night creates “possibilities of law and order issues and occurrence of broadly offences also”. It noted that the police report does not refer to noise pollution as such but apprehends the possibility of law and order issues.

In the facts of the case, it found that the Temple had been conducting such cultural programs in the past years beyond 10 PM without any complaints. “In such context, the question is whether the petitioner is justified in seeking exemption solely for the purpose of cultural programs; and this has to be examined in the background of the assertions that this Temple has been conducting such programs in the past, without any problem and without any complaints having been made against them”, stated the Court.

It observed that rules stipulate that exemptions could only be given for using loudspeakers when events were conducted in closed premises post 10 PM. It noted that the cultural programs would be conducted within the Temple premises only and they would undertake before the Court that volume would be reduced to such levels that it would not go beyond the Temple premises. It also directed that the cultural programs should not go beyond 11 PM and an exemption was given for one hour only and not for two hours. 

It observed that the exemption granted to the Temple would be a special one considering the peculiar circumstances in it and would not be a precedent.

Accordingly, the writ petition was allowed.

Counsel for Petitioner: Advocate Anjali Menon

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 114

Case title: Kumarthupady Shri Bhagavathy Temple v State of Kerala

Case number: WP(C) NO. 4231 OF 2024

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