Kerala HC directs KAAPA-accused BJP councillor to take oath of office inside central jail

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan passed the order on a writ petition by R Sugathan, the BJP councillor elected from Vazhottukonam ward of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.

On June 24, the court had ordered 20 BJP councillors, including Sugathan, to retake their oaths after their earlier oaths, taken in December last year, were found to violate the provisions of the Municipality Act. The councillors had taken their oaths in the name of various Hindu deities and social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru. While 19 councillors retook their oaths on June 24, Sugathan wasn’t sworn in because he was in jail after being held under KAAPA.

“When the very pulse of democracy is made to collapse over a solitary, disputed oath, the duty of this court is to uphold democracy. The court’s intention is only to see that the democratic procedures are strictly followed,” the order said, and directed the state to make necessary arrangements for the councillor to take the oath on July 14. Accredited mediapersons should be allowed to take part in the ceremony, it said.