Kerala High Court orders fresh oath for 20 BJP councillors

The Kerala High Court has invalidated the oaths of office taken by 20 BJP councillors in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and a member of the Vadakkencherry grama panchayat, ruling that elected representatives must strictly adhere to the statutory oath format. In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, Justice P V Kunhikrishnan directed the 21 elected members to retake their oaths within four weeks, holding that any expansion of the prescribed wording is not legally permissible.

The court found that the oath-taking violated provisions of the Kerala Municipality Act and the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, which require elected members to swear either "in the name of God" or by making a solemn affirmation. The BJP councillors, elected in the 2025 local body polls, had taken their oaths invoking various names, including Mother India, specific Hindu deities, organizational martyrs, and the social reformer Sree Narayana Guru. In a separate case, a panchayat member in Palakkad district took an oath "by God's blessing in the name of" the late Congress leader Oommen Chandy.

Justice Kunhikrishnan emphasized that an oath is a solemn commitment to uphold the Constitution...