A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Calcutta High Court challenging police directions asking religious establishments across West Bengal to remove loudspeakers installed on their premises.

The PIL was mentioned for urgent hearing on Monday by Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay before a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Atarup Banerjee.

Bandyopadhyay submitted that loudspeakers had been removed from several mosques across West Bengal. The High Court said it would hear the matter on August 13.

The petition, filed by lawyer Danish Farooqui, challenges what it describes as "blanket verbal directions" issued by police officials in Hooghly and other districts to various places of worship, including mosques and temples, asking them to remove loudspeakers.

According to the petition, the police issued these directions without passing any written order or notification and without first measuring the decibel levels of the sound produced by the loudspeakers to determine whether they violated the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.

The plea alleges that police officials were coercing the management of religious institutions into removing the loudspeakers despite the absence of any formal legal order.

The petitioner has also argued that azaan, or the Islamic call to prayer, is an essential part of the faith and is protected under Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion.

The petition contends that the police action is arbitrary and violates principles of natural justice and the rule of law.

It has therefore sought directions from the High Court to quash the alleged verbal instructions issued by the police and allow religious institutions to use loudspeakers, provided their use remains within the permissible limits prescribed under existing noise pollution regulations.

The High Court is expected to take up the PIL for hearing on August 13.