Two petitions have been filed in the Kerala High Court seeking to overturn an order issued by the Changanassery Municipality directing its employees to sound a siren at 6.30 p.m. to notify the Muslim community that Ramazan fasting has ended.
The Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action (CASA), a society registered under the Literary, Scientific, and Charitable Societies Registration Act 1955, and K.U.Santhakumar, a religious and social activist, filed the petitions.
The plea claimed that fasting is purely an Islamic ritual and that the Municipality, as a State instrumentality under Article 12 of the Constitution, could not be used to conduct a religious ceremony or ritual at the expense of the government exchequer.
It is further stated that the Municipality issued the order delegating its contingent worker to sound the siren and its Health Supervisor to supervise and ensure that the siren is sounded at the appropriate time in response to an application submitted by the Puthoor Pally Muslim Jama-Ath, Changanassery.
According to the petitions, the Constitution does not require the government to bear the costs of religious rituals or festivals, nor does it permit the use of government machinery for such purposes.
“If one community’s rights or rituals are performed using government machinery and government employees, all other religions must be provided with similar facilities. In such a case, government missionaries would devote their time, energy, and resources to carrying out rites, rituals, and ceremonies of religions that exist in our country,” the plea stated.
Furthermore, Santhakumar’s petition contends that, unlike Azaan broadcast from mosques, the use of sirens to signal the end of a fast is not an essential religious practice in Islam. The petitioner claims that if microphones are used, the latter is subject to necessary control under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. It has been argued that in this case, the Municipality has mobilized State resources to increase noise pollution, thereby infringing on people’s fundamental right to live a quality life free of noise pollution.
The petitions thus request that the impugned order be overturned. Aside from that, CASA requests that a directive be issued to the respondents requiring them not to deputize or use government machinery or any of its employees in aid of any community for the purpose of performing religious activities.
