The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) directed 20 elected councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation to retake their oaths within four weeks, holding that the oaths they had taken during the swearing-in ceremony in January in the names of various deities, martyrs, and political movements were invalid under the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994.
Allowing the petition filed by LDF council party Leader S.P. Deepak, the Single Bench of Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan directed the State to make necessary arrangements to facilitate the swearing-in ceremony of the councillors again.
However, the court dismissed the petitioner’s plea to set aside the councillors’ election on the grounds that the oath-taking process had violated the law.
Mr. Deepak had contended that the oath in a swearing-in ceremony should either be in the name of ‘God’ or a solemn affirmation, and therefore, the oath taken by the 20 councillors violated the provisions of the Municipality Act.
The councillors had argued that they took the oath in the name of their belief that “certain persons and deities” are their God, and hence their oaths were valid.
Published - June 24, 2026 11:43 am IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
