In Brief
The Supreme Court quashed a High Court direction that blanket-banned DJ music in public places. The High Court had issued this ban in a writ petition filed by two residents seeking removal of LCD screens from a public square—the ban on DJs was never pleaded or prayed for. The Court held that a writ petition cannot be expanded to cover issues not in the pleadings unless it is Public Interest Litigation. Critically, the affected DJ players (non-parties to the petition) were neither impleaded nor given a hearing before the ban was imposed. This violated principles of natural justice. The Court quashed the ban but clarified that music/DJ may still be played only with proper licenses under applicable noise pollution laws.
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