The Kerala High Court on Wednesday nullified the oath-taking of 20 BJP councilors in Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and a Congress ward member in Gram Panchayat for invoking the names of Hindu deities, martyrs and other individuals during the ceremony, ruling that the legal oath must be taken “in the name of God” or with solemn confirmation.
Although the court allowed the council members to retake their oath within four months, 19 members retook their oath in the name of God in a hastily conducted function on Wednesday.
One of the council members, Sugathan, was unable to participate in the ceremony as he is currently in prison in connection with the Kaba case. The gram panchayat ward member is yet to regain his oath.
The ruling by a bench of Justice P V Konnikrishnan came in response to two petitions challenging the oath taken by 20 BJP councilors in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and one Congress grama panchayat member in the state.
During the oath-taking ceremony held in December last year, BJP councilors cited the names of several Hindu deities such as Gurudeva, Paratmata and Parathamba, in reference to social reformer Sri Narayana Guru, and martyrs of their political party. The Congress ward member took oath on behalf of late Prime Minister Oommen Chandy.
The SC ruling on Wednesday invalidated the oath, ruling that under the Kerala Municipality Act and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, elected representatives can only take the oath “in the name of God” or by giving an official confirmation.
The court ruled that the names of certain deities such as Mother India, political martyrs, organizations or individuals cannot be added to the oath.
“The taking of the oath by an elected person in a democratic country means that the elected person promises the voters that he will be honest, will follow the Constitution and the rule of law, and serve the people loyally. Therefore, when he takes the oath, he should do so as stipulated in the relevant law and rules,” he said.
“We do not need to enlarge God’s name by name. May God bless everyone! I leave it there. The outcome of the above discussion is to allow judicial petitions,” the letter read.
