State cannot act like a private litigant; how many movement passes were issued? Karnataka HC asks state in Nikhil Kumaraswamy wedding matter

The Karnataka High Court yesterday asked the state government why it was delaying revealing how many movement passes were issued for inter-district movement of persons to attend the wedding of Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy..While passing the order, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna orally warned the government that if no proper information was provided, an inqiury would be directed. .In its written submissions, the state government had informed the Bench that the Deputy Commissioner, Ramanagara, while permitting the marriage function on April 17, 2020, ought to have specified the number of guests permitted for the function..This occurred since there was no specific prohibition on the number of guests in the initial Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification issued in view of the COVID-19 lockdown, the state government added. The state further assured the Court that such a situation would not occur again, since the latest MHA notification fixes the number of guests permitted for marriage-related functions..Karnataka HC seeks state govt response for permitting HD Kumaraswamy's son's wedding during Coronavirus lockdown.Strongly criticising this argument, the Division Bench held that the state cannot act like a private litigant by saying that guidelines issued by the MHA did not mention the number of persons . Therefore, the state should give details of vehicle passes granted for the marriage, the Court said..Earlier this month, the Karnataka High Court had asked the Central and state governments to clarify whether a marriage function attended by 80-90 persons can be held during the Coronavirus Lockdown..Can marriage function be attended by 80-90 people? Karnataka HC asks Centre, State on Nikhil Kumaraswamy wedding amid COVID-19 Lockdown