Mumbai: The Bombay high court has rapped the Mumbai police for giving out information about persons who complained about noise pollution in their localities. The police told the court that it had issued a circular to all police stations restraining them from leaking out confidential information.

The petitioner also complained that the state had failed to comply with an earlier order of the court to have noise mapping done of 27 cities in the state and work had been started only in five cities. A division bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla was hearing the compliance report of the state and civic bodies with regard to controlling noise pollution in the state. The compliance was with regard to the public interest litigation filed by Awaaz Foundation and others.

When the matter came up for hearing, Ishwar Nankani, counsel for the petitioners, informed that there had been numerous instances of information of people who had complained against noise pollution being given out by the police. “I came to know that my name was given out by the police station where I had complained after a third person applied for the same through RTI,” said Mr Nankani referring to his own instance. He added that his client and activist Sumaira Abdulali had also received numerous such complaints regarding the police giving out names to event organisers.