The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted a petition challenging the validity of the oaths taken by 20 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors who recently won seats in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Justice P V Kunhikrishnan issued notices to the Kerala State Election Commission, the state government, and the 20 councillors in question, seeking their response.
The petition alleges that the councillors did not adhere to the prescribed form of oath under the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994. Instead of taking the oath in the name of “God” or by making a solemn affirmation—as mandated under the Third Schedule of the Act—they used invocations such as “Gurudeva Namathil” (In the name of Gurudeva), “Udayannoor Deviyude Namathil” (In the name of Udayannoor Devi), “Kavilammayude Namathil” (In the name of Kavilamma), “Bhagavath Namathil”, “Sree Padmanabha Swamyude Namathil” (In the name of Lord Padmanabhaswamy), and even “Bharathambayude Namathil” (In the name of Mother India), among others.
While admitting the plea, the court remarked that “there was some force in the argument” raised by the petitioner. Justice Kunhikrishnan observed that the Act clearly prescribes taking the oath either in the name of God or by solemn affirmation, and not in any other form.
“God may be different for different people. Some people may think that their god is a living person or the guru of a person or a godman. Nobody can blame them because it is their right and discretion. But whether oath can be taken by a person in the name of a living person, his teacher, godman, etc., who are the god in his perspective, is an important question to be decided,” the judge said.
The High Court clarified that the validity of the oath taken by the 20 councillors will be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
The legal dispute comes in the wake of a political shift in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where the BJP recently won control, ending the 45-year reign of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
