The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Karnataka government over the wedding of Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, which was held recently.
The High Court asked the state government to file a response detailing on what basis Nikhil's wedding was allowed to be conducted amidst the lockdown in effect in the state.
The High Court bench asked the state government to file its response on April 24.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy got married to Revathi, the grandniece of former Housing Minister M Krishnappa, on the morning of April 17. Even though the wedding ceremony was billed as a 'low-key' affair, photographs from the wedding show that physical or social distancing norms were not followed by the wedding hosts and guests.
In addition to this, at a time when people are locked down in their homes, as many as 48 cars with around 100 people were allowed to move on April 17 to allow them to attend the wedding that was held in a resort in Bidadi in Ramanagara district. Special permissions were obtained from the state government to hold the wedding ceremony.
Kumaraswamy had claimed that doctors and medical staff would screen guests coming into the wedding. Officials close to Kumaraswamy said that the guests were instructed to wear masks and gloves but nobody appeared to follow this rule.
The wedding had been postponed from its earlier date due to the lockdown restrictions over the coronavirus outbreak in India.
Earlier, BJP legislator Masala Jayaram and Health Minister Sriramulu were criticised for holding crowded events in the state amid lockdown. Karnataka has reported 427 coronavirus cases so far.