Justice Katju’s Support for the Ban on Roadside Namaz
- Constitutional Rights and the Limits of Religious Freedom
- Why the West Bengal Government’s Decision Has Sparked Debate
- Public Nuisance, Traffic Disruption and Loudspeaker Restrictions
- The Mosque Shortage and Friday Congregational Prayers
- Justice Katju’s Allahabad High Court Judgment on Mosque Construction
- Can Better Mosque Access Prevent Roadside Prayers?
Suvendu Adhikari Government’s First Major Administrative Decision
Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju supports the West Bengal government’s ban on roadside namaz and restrictions on loudspeakers, while urging authorities to allow construction of more mosques to address space shortages and prevent public inconvenience.
The West Bengal government's prohibition of namaz on roads and restrictions on loudspeakers
By Justice Markandey Katju
The new West Bengal government's prohibition of namaz on roads and direction to the police to ensure that loudspeaker sounds do not travel beyond religious precincts, should be welcomed by all right-thinking people.
This was the first decision taken by the cabinet of West Bengal, and should be welcomed by all, even by Muslims, and it should not be criticised just because it has been taken by a BJP government.
Freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Indian Constitution does not mean that religion can be practised by causing public nuisance. No right is absolute. All rights are subject to reasonable restrictions in the public interest.
Blocking roads or loudspeakers blaring loudly ( whether calling people for namaz or in Hindu festivals ) is a public nuisance, must not be allowed, and they have rightly been banned by the new West Bengal government, led by Suvendu Adhikari.
But that having been said, there is another aspect of the matter.
Muslims usually offer namaz on most days in their homes, but on Fridays, they wish to offer it collectively along with other Muslims of the locality, preferably in a mosque.
Now the problem was that since 1947, the population of India ( including the population of Muslims in India ) had increased manifold, but the number of mosques had not increased proportionally. Muslims who wanted to build new mosques were often not allowed to do so by the authorities on various pretexts, e.g. in UP, where I have lived most of my life. Consequently, they were compelled to offer Friday namaz on roads or other public places, causing obstruction and nuisance to the traffic. This sometimes resulted in violent incidents, e.g. in Gurgaon and other places.
When I was a Judge of the Allahabad High Court, a petition was filed before me in 1999 by a Muslim from Moradabad, whose grievance was that he was not being allowed to build a mosque on his own land. I issued notice to the UP government, which stated in its reply that the petitioner had not taken a no-objection certificate from the district magistrate of the district where the petitioner's land was situated, and where he wanted to build a mosque.
I asked the UP government counsel whether there was any law requiring permission from the district magistrate for building a mosque on one's own land ? He could not point out any such law, and in fact there was none.
So I allowed the petition, holding that Muslims could build mosques on their own land, or on anyone else's land, if such person permits, and no permission was required from the district magistrate for doing this.
A link of the judgment is given below :
So while I fully agree with the decision of the new West Bengal government, I also appeal to it to allow Muslims of West Bengal to build mosques on their own land, or on anyone else's land ( if such person permits ), so that the problem of shortage of mosques is redressed, and Muslims are not compelled to offer Friday namaz on roads and other public places, causing a nuisance to the public. The state government should issue strict instructions to the district authorities in West Bengal to ensure this.
Justice Katju is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. These are his personal views.
