A Pune court has sentenced the president and vice-president of a Lohianagar-based organisation, along with a loudspeaker equipment provider, for violating restrictions on high-powered sound systems during an Eid-e-Milad procession. The court also ordered the seizure of the loudspeaker equipment, according to police.
The people sentenced were Wahid Qasim Maniyar, president of Al Madina Young Boys Young Circle; Javed Majid Sheikh, the organisation’s vice-president; and Prakash Krishnat Aswale, the equipment provider. Maniyar and Sheikh live in Lohianagar in Ghorpade Peth, while Aswale is from Savarde Budruk in Kolhapur district, police said.
The procession was held on August 26. Police said Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had issued directions concerning the use of loudspeakers and warned that action would follow if Supreme Court orders on sound systems were violated.
According to police, the organisation used a high-capacity loudspeaker system during the procession in Lohianagar. Khadak police allegedly issued repeated instructions to reduce the volume, but the directions were not followed. The police subsequently registered a case under Sections 223 and 292 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for disobedience of an order issued by a public servant and related violations.
Police filed the chargesheet in court within 24 hours of registering the case. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Krishikesh Rawle, said the court found the organisation’s president and vice-president, as well as the equipment provider, guilty and sentenced them.
The action was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner Sanjay Darade, Additional Commissioner Rajesh Bansode and DCP Rawle. Senior Inspector Dhananjay Pingle and officers from the crime branch and Khadak police station were involved in the operation. The loudspeaker equipment remains subject to the court’s seizure order.
