Fines alone may not solve DJ noise problem, says HC

Raipur/Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh high court has observed that unregulated use of DJs at public, religious and political events poses serious health concerns, noting that merely imposing fines is not sufficient to curb the problem.A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a group of elderly persons including retired IAS officer R P Shrivastava and former vice-chancellor of Nana Deshmukh Veterinary University, Govind Mishra, said that DJs played during occasions like marriages and religious processions have no regulation on sound. Sound beyond 75 decibel is hazardous for human health and DJs often produce a sound of up to 100 decibel. It raises the blood pressure of affected people particularly the elderly persons and the children and there have also been incidents of heart attack reported due to impact of blaring sound of DJs. The state govt in its reply to the petition said that fines are imposed under provisions of Noise Act for playing DJs beyond permissible limit of sound. Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Aditya Sanghi said that unregulated use of DJs is turning out to be a major health hazard and said that the apex court has also termed the increasing noise pollution as a major problem, which is affecting life and health of people. The bench of chief justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf hearing petition observed that merely imposing fine may not be a remedy to the problem and public awareness must be created for a regulated use of DJs while deferring hearing on the petition to June 23, 2026.