The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday observed that it will send a wrong signal to the public if only some persons were given special concessions to hold elaborate weddings amidst lockdown while hearing the Nikhil Kumaraswamy case. On this issue, the HC on Tuesday questioned why the state government was hesitant to submit details on the number of vehicle passes issued for the wedding, reported The Hindu.
It may be recalled that based on a public interest litigation on the issue, the Karnataka High Court had pulled up the state government and sought details of the procedures followed to allow the wedding.
According to The New Indian Express, the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna said that since there is no definite information on the number of vehicle passes issued, there is need for an inquiry.
The state government advocate, defending the Ramanagara Deputy Commissioner (DC), said although the Ministry of Home Affairs does not specify an upper limit for the number of guests, the DC should have put a cap on the number of guests for the event.
The Hndu further reported that the HC criticised the state government saying it cannot behave as a private citizen and use a loophole in the MHA guidelines to defend itself.
The state government further said that from now on, it won’t allow weddings to take place with more than 50 guests till the lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Nikhil, son of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, had married Revathi, the grandniece of former Housing Minister M Krishnappa, on April 17. While the former CM had claimed that it was a low-key affair due to the lockdown restrictions, pictures of the event suggested otherwise.
The event was held at a resort in Bidadi for which close to 50 cars reportedly arrived for the ceremony.