Madras HC Leaves Church NOC In Place Despite Residents’ Noise And Parking Objections, Directs Periodic Checks

The petitioner, a resident near the second respondent Church, challenged the District Collector’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) dated 30 September 2023, alleging that the local enquiry was inadequate and that the Church would cause noise pollution and traffic congestion through parking.

The Church had earlier faced enforcement proceedings for unauthorised construction; following related litigation, it undertook rectification, obtained the Collector’s and police authorities’ NOCs, and received planning permission.

The petitioner relied on affidavits from 26 local residents asserting that they had not been consulted and opposing the Church.

The petitioner sought to quash the NOC and require a fresh enquiry.

The Court considered the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, under which the Collector’s NOC formed part of the process for obtaining planning permission for the place of worship.

It also referred to the enforcement framework under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, including the earlier lock-and-seal proceedings under Section 56(2).

The Court’s approach was that an urban local enquiry need not be confined to the particular residents selected by an objector; affidavits from some residents, without more, do not establish that the Collector’s enquiry was redundant or unfair.

The Court accepted that the petitioner had standing to raise concerns but considered the dispute in light of the prior proceedings, including the Division Bench’s order recording the NOCs and directing scrutiny and sanction of planning permission.

The 26 affidavits did not, by themselves, disprove the Collector’s local enquiry, particularly in a densely populated urban area.

The Court also noted the Church’s undertaking not to use cone speakers or loudspeakers to broadcast services and its submission that it had adequate on-site parking; it considered periodic monitoring by the jurisdictional police an appropriate response to any actual noise or parking violations.

It disposed of the writ petition with the observation that local authorities should periodically check for noise-pollution and illegal-parking violations; no costs were ordered, and the connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.