Telangana High Court Stays Interim Order Prohibiting Pubs & Restaurants From Playing Music After 10 PM

A Division Bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice C. V. Bhaskar Reddy has passed an interim order staying an order of a single judge bench which imposed a curfew of 10 PM on music being played in pubs and restaurants.

The single judge bench had passed an interim order directing the Commissioners of  Police, Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Rachakonda to stop pubs and restaurants from playing music who do not have a license. Further, the interim order also stated that the establishments which had a license will not be allowed to play music after 10 PM.

The said interim order was passed after a petition was filed by the residents of the greater Jubilee Hills area alleging that 9 specific establishments had not followed environmental rules and were causing hardships to the residents due to loud music specifically to the senior citizen. Further, it was also alleged that there was unruly behavior outside the establishments in the late hours of the night.

The division bench noted that the said interim order of the single judge bench had gone beyond the grievance raised by the petitioner and had also affected other establishments against whom no grievance was made and they were also not made a party to the proceedings.

The court also noted that the litigation had taken the character of Public Interest Litigation and therefore it should therefore be heard by the appropriate court.

The court in its interim order noted that:

“In the meanwhile, the interim directions issued by the learned Single Judge on 12.09.2022 shall be confined only to respondent No.5 in Writ Petition No.26788 of 2021 and respondent Nos.2 to 10 in Writ Petition No.34601 of 2021.

Case Title: National Restaurant Association of India vs Jubilee Hills Residents Clean and Green Association