MUMBAI, July 10 -- The Mumbai police on Wednesday filed a reply in the Bombay High Court detailing the procedure followed by them in imposing fines and terminating loudspeaker licences of five mosques in Vikhroli since April. The mosques had approached the court, alleging that the police had acted in an arbitrary manner, violating due process. While issuing notice to the police, the court had asked whether, before imposing penalties and removing loudspeakers, they had measured the volume emanating from the mosque loudspeakers, asked the mosques to lower the volume, and whether they had complied. The court had also asked whether, after notices had been sent to the mosques, they had been given a chance to comply. The reply filed by the police includes some interesting details. It said police had received complaints in four of the five cases. However, two of the complaints were not only about noise, but also about "mental distress to Hindus'' allegedly caused by the contents of the azaan, that is, "The words Allah u Akbar ('Allah is the greatest') and La illah il Allah ('there is no god but Allah'),'' states the reply. In the case of the Hazrat Shamsuddin Baba Dargah, the loudspeaker licence was cancelled not due to any violation of noise rules, but because they could not provide the ownership documents sought by the police. In the case of the Ahle Hadith Masjid, states the reply, two schools in the vicinity were disturbed by the loudspeaker. However, there is no mention in the reply of any complaint by the schools regarding this. Incidentally, the decibel levels recorded during school hours were 50.50 and 56.75. The prescribed limit is 55 decibels. In all five cases, the police had issued temporary licences subject to noise level rules being followed. However, in four of them, on measuring noise levels at different times, and finding them higher than the prescribed limit of 55 decibels during the day, they had issued notices to the mosques, fined them Rs.5,000 each, and asked for ownership documents. Since they failed to provide these documents, their licences were not renewed. The reply says the police were acting in accordance with the January 2025 high court judgment regarding loudspeakers on places of worship, and a subsequent circular regarding loudspeakers, issued by the additional director general of police (law and order) in April. Countering the allegation that one community had been targeted, the reply states that the police had issued notices to three temples in the area, which were operating loudspeakers without licences, after which they had stopped using loudspeakers....