Court refuses to give relief to DJ, Dolby system owners

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has refused to give any immediate relief to DJ system owners who are seeking permission to play the systems as Ganesh and Navratri are over now. The petitioner opposed the state government’s claim that once DJ systems are turned on, they violate the prescribed noise limit. The state government, however, opposed this vehemently and said it would prove it in an affidavit following which the court did not give DJ system owners permission to operate the machines.

A division bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice Sarang Kotwal was hearing a PIL filed by the Professional Audio and Lighting Association opposing the state government’s decision to ban DJ and Dolby systems during the Ganesh festival and Navratri. The petitioner pointed out that the Ganesh Festival is prime time during which there is high demand for such systems. The livelihood of about 20,000 people is dependent on the sound systems and therefore there is an urgent need to remove the ban, it contended.

The court, in the last hearing, refused permission to DJs to operate sound systems during Ganesh immersion.

On Friday, petitioner’s lawyer Sandip Talekar argued that the court had been misled by the state government while refusing interim relief on the last date of hearing. He further said that the state had said that the moment DJ systems are switched on, they would cross 100 decibels. Various manufacturers of DJ systems gave certificates stating that DJ or Dolby systems can be played within permissible limits and their volume can be adjusted to any level such as 10 to 70 decibels, the petitioner claimed.