The Kerala High Court has declared invalid the oath of office administered to 20 BJP councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation after finding that they departed from the statutory form prescribed under the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994, by invoking the names of various deities, political martyrs and ideological symbols during the swearing-in ceremony.
The single-judge Bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan also invalidated the oath taken by Congress member Sunil Chuvattupadam of the Vadakkencherry Grama Panchayat after noting that he had invoked the name of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during the swearing-in ceremony.
The Court held that where a statute prescribes a specific form and manner for taking an oath of office, strict compliance is mandatory. The Court observed that elected representatives were required under law to either swear in the name of God or make a solemn affirmation in the exact format prescribed by the governing statute. Any deviation from the statutory text would render the oath legally unsustainable.
The ruling was delivered in two connected writ petitions. One petition was filed by CPI(M) leader and councillor SP Deepak, challenging the oath-taking ceremony conducted on December 21, 2025, following the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation elections.
According to the petitioner, several BJP councillors had taken oath in the names of entities and figures such as Gurudeva, Bharathamba, Kaavilamma, Attukal Amma, Sree Padmanabha Swami, Lord Ayyappa and martyrs associated with their political organisation, instead of adhering to the statutory form.
The second petition, filed by C Kannan, questioned the validity of the oath taken by Chuvattupadam, who had referred to Oommen Chandy during the swearing-in.
After examining the provisions of the Kerala Municipality Act, the Court held that the expression “God” appearing in the prescribed oath could not be substituted by the name of any particular deity, religious figure, political ideology, organisation, movement, symbolic entity or individual. The Court concluded that the councillors had substantially deviated from the legally mandated form of oath and, therefore, the oath-taking exercise could not be treated as valid in law.
The judgment emphasised that an oath of office is not a mere formality but a solemn constitutional and statutory undertaking through which an elected representative pledges adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law and the faithful discharge of public duties. Consequently, the Court held that such an oath must be administered strictly in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions and rules.
During the course of the judgment, the Court also referred to the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru and observed that disputes of this nature could be avoided if the term “God” prescribed in the statutory format was uniformly understood without reference to specific religious denominations or identities.
While declaring the oaths invalid, the Court clarified that the affected councillors and elected representatives would not automatically lose their offices. Referring to Section 531 of the Kerala Municipality Act, the Court noted that acts, resolutions and decisions of a local body do not become invalid merely because of procedural defects or irregularities in the constitution of the body or its membership.
Invoking this statutory protection, the Court safeguarded all actions and decisions taken by the concerned councillors and local bodies until the date of the judgment. At the same time, it directed the Kerala State Election Commission and other competent authorities to facilitate the administration of fresh oaths in accordance with law within four weeks.
The High Court accordingly allowed the writ petitions and directed the concerned elected representatives to retake the oath strictly in the manner prescribed under the Kerala Municipality Act.
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