The Supreme Court today declined a request by the Maharashtra Government to allow the use of loudspeakers from 10 pm to 12 am for three days of the forthcoming 11-day Ganesh festival.‘‘Let this Ganesh festival pass off peacefully,’’ said a bench of Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Justice B N Srikrishna and Justice P K Balasubramanyan, while turning down the State Government’s application seeking relaxation in restrictions imposed by the apex court.The request, it said, was necessitated by the court’s July 18 order banning loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am—except in case of public emergency.The State Government had sought relaxation in the rules for 15 days a year—two days for Navaratri, one for Christmas, two for Diwali, one each for Dhanteras, Lakshmi Puja, Eid, Shiv Ratri and Ambedkar Jayanti, and three for local festivals and cultural programmes.But with the court refusing to lift the ban during the Ganesh festival, the case of the others too may not be any different.
