Nashik (Maharashtra): Nashik Police said playing Hanuman Chalisa or Bhajans will not be allowed within 15 minutes before and after the Azan, stating that prior permission is required, an order issued by the City Police Commissionerate read.
"Permission has to be taken for playing Hanuman Chalisa or Bhajan. It will not be allowed within 15 minutes before and after the Azan. It will not be allowed within 100 metres of the mosque. The aim of this order is to maintain law & order," Deepak Pandey, the Commissioner of Police (CP) Nashik said.
All religious places have been directed to take permission for use of loudspeakers by May 3. After May 3, if anyone is found violating the order then legal action to be taken against the violators, Deepak said.
The development assumes significance in the wake of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray having warned of playing Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers outside mosques if the loudspeakers in the mosques were not removed. Later, an MNS leader Mahendra Bhanushali, who was accused of setting up a loudspeaker, was taken into police custody after playing 'Hanuman Chalisa' without permission from the authorities concerned.
Read: Allahabad HC allows azan in mosques by individuals without loudspeaker
