Allahabad HC Orders Suo Motu PIL On Noise Pollution After Class II Girl’s Death [Read Judgment]

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, has directed registration of a separate suo motu Public Interest Litigation on noise pollution and compliance with the statutory provisions governing it, after the reported death of a Class II schoolgirl in Balrampur, allegedly linked to loud speakers and music systems in a nearby procession. The court clarified that it has drawn no conclusion on the cause of death.

A Division Bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla was hearing PIL No. 15385 of 2021, along with connected writ petitions and PILs on the misuse of pressure horns, modified silencers and hooters. The matter was mentioned urgently by Senior Advocate Gaurav Mehrotra, the amicus curiae, who filed an application for urgent listing in view of an incident of 22.09.2026 at Divine Public School, City Palace Road, Bhagautiganj, District Balrampur, which was widely reported in the media.

The court noted that the child died while in her classroom, allegedly on account of loud blaring of speakers and music systems in a procession passing near the school. Though it was conscious of its earlier order of 10.01.2023 in W.P.I.L. No. 24981 of 2017, the Bench held that, as an exception, a separate PIL was required, as the incident and the larger issues of noise pollution and its effect on citizens would involve separate departments that could not feasibly be arrayed in the existing PIL.

The Bench said that it had drawn no conclusion as to the cause of death, but that loudspeakers or music instruments being played at a very high pitch, followed immediately by the child collapsing in the classroom, persuaded it to take cognizance, as "noise pollution is now becoming a menace." It observed that the menace had been acknowledged by the Legislature in the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and by the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, but continues unabated, with violations of the Rules visible on the streets every day.

Framing the questions to be considered, the court asked who is responsible for curbing the menace and what is being done about it. It said that if the steps taken are insufficient, a mechanism with regular monitoring of compliance must be put in place, along with awareness among citizens, whose lack of awareness is a main reason for violations. It added that violators must be made accountable, since the Rules provide for penalty in terms of the 1986 Act, and sought the Government's assistance on how to achieve this.

The court directed the Registry to register a separate suo motu PIL in re: Noise Pollution and compliance of statutory provisions by the concerned authorities. It directed that the following be arrayed as opposite parties: the Additional Chief Secretaries or Principal Secretaries of the Home, Transport, Forest and Environment, Housing and Urban Planning, and Urban Development Departments; the Director General of Police; the Commissioner of Police, Lucknow; the District Magistrate, Lucknow; the Municipal Corporation, Lucknow; the Lucknow Development Authority; the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board; and the Central Pollution Control Board. For the incident, it also arrayed Divine Public School through its Head Master, the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police, Balrampur, and the Chief Medical Officer, Balrampur.

Additional Chief Standing Counsel Vivek Shukla was directed to seek instructions and a report from the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Balrampur, and to ensure service of the order on the school through the District Magistrate's office, so that it may assist the court on the incident. The court expressed the hope that the parents of the child and the school authorities would not be pressurised, and that the school's functioning would not be unnecessarily interfered with by any person or authority of the State.

The opposite parties may file affidavits on the incident, on the measures taken and proposed, and on suggestions for effective implementation of the 1986 Act and the 2000 Rules. The court requested Mr. Mehrotra to assist it in the suo motu proceedings as well. 

The fresh suo motu PIL will be listed on 12.10.2026, while PIL No. 15385 of 2021 will be heard on the already fixed date of 09.10.2026.

Appearances:

Amicus Curiae: Mr. Gaurav Mehrotra, Senior Advocate.

For the State: Mr. Vivek Shukla, Additional Chief Standing Counsel.

For the Pollution Control Board: Mr. A.K. Verma, Advocate.

Case Title: Noise Pollution Thru Modified Silencers Suo Moto vs. State of U.P. & Ors., PIL No. 15385 of 2021

[Read Judgment]