RAWALPINDI:
A petition has been filed in the Sessions Court seeking immediate enforcement of a judicial order banning the use of loudspeakers and megaphones in residential streets and neighbourhoods in the city and cantonment areas of Rawalpindi for selling goods, soliciting donations, and begging.
The petitioner, Advocate Anwar Dar, has requested that the City Police Officer (CPO) be summoned and directed to ensure strict implementation of the court’s order.
The petition states that on January 21, Additional District and Sessions Judge Maqsood Ahmed Qureshi imposed a ban on the use of loudspeakers and megaphones from 8am until midnight in residential areas and ordered strict legal action against violators.
However, no police station has enforced the order to date, despite copies of the ruling being submitted, amounting to contempt of court.
Residents complain that the incessant use of loudspeakers and megaphones by hawkers selling groceries, fruit, vegetables, corn, ice cream, scrap and other items has caused severe mental distress. The noise reportedly disturbs the sick and elderly, disrupts students — including those engaged in online learning — and continues late into the night. Beggars and organised groups are also using megaphones to solicit alms and donations.
The petition notes that while the Amplifier Act is enforced in mosques and other places of worship, street vendors continue to violate the same law with impunity.
The district administration and police are said to have failed to curb the nuisance.
The petitioner has urged that the use of loudspeakers and megaphones for street vending be banned, allowing hawkers to call out in their natural voices instead. The petition is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.
