Overview

• Police have removed more than 1,500 loudspeakers from mosques and other religious sites since a May 11 circular implemented the Bombay High Court’s noise pollution limits
• Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar chaired a June 25 meeting with Muslim leaders and senior police officials, directing officers to apply the 45-55 decibel rules impartially without wrongful seizures
• Five Muslim institutions have filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the removal process as arbitrary and in violation of fundamental rights
• Muslim representatives say BJP leader Kirit Somaiya pressured police to target mosques, while Somaiya maintains his campaign has led over 600 mosques to apply for speaker permissions
• Mosque committees have requested a streamlined, single-window online system for loudspeaker permissions, a proposal that police commissioner Deven Bharti has agreed to review