In what is believed to be a first in Kerala, BJP councillor R Sugathan of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, who is detained under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), retook his oath of office inside Viyyur Central Jail on Tuesday after the Kerala High Court directed the state to facilitate the ceremony.
The court’s order followed its June 24 verdict declaring invalid the oaths taken by 20 BJP councillors elected to the Corporation in the 2025 local body elections. The councillors had taken the oath in the name of Mother India, the organisation’s martyrs and Gurudeva, which the court ruled violated the Kerala Municipality Act. Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan directed all 20 councillors to retake the oath within four weeks, stating that elected representatives can take the oath only in the name of God or by solemn affirmation.
While 19 BJP councillors retook the oath at the Corporation office on the day of the judgment, Sugathan could not do so because he was in prison. Gold 101.3FM, UAE’s No.1 radio station, reports that the High Court described the situation as an extraordinary one, observing that “extraordinary situations call for extraordinary decisions” and noting that preventing Sugathan from taking the oath would alter the Corporation’s majority, thereby affecting the people’s mandate.
Following the court’s direction, Sugathan took the oath in the name of God inside the jail in the presence of Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V.V. Rajesh, the Corporation Secretary and other officials.
The unprecedented ceremony has drawn political criticism from the LDF. Parliamentary party leader S.P. Deepak said the oath-taking inside Viyyur Central Jail happened solely because of legal necessity and accused the BJP leadership of creating the situation. Mayor V.V. Rajesh defended the process, saying the matter should be viewed through judicial decisions rather than political allegations.
Meanwhile, the LDF staged a protest outside the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office, alleging an understanding between the BJP and the UDF. The oath-taking inside the prison is widely seen as an unprecedented event in Kerala’s civic administration.
