BENGALURU: The Karnataka HC on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the blanket permission granted by the Ramanagara DC without putting a cap on the number of invitees to the marriage of Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of JDS leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy, held on April 17, during the lockdown period. “We are not concerned about only this marriage, prima facie the object of lockdown itself will be defeated if the policy of the State and Central Government is that more than 50 persons could be permitted to attend a marriage,” the court said.
It directed the state and Centre to tell whether they are open for the district magistrate to grant permission for gatherings irrespective of the number of persons attending, and that if this was the policy, the government must allow more citizens to benefit and cannot extend it to only some individuals. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice B V Nagarathna observed that such permission, with no thought for social distancing, was dangerous in the circumstances.