Kerala High Court allows BJP councillor detained under KAAPA to take oath inside prison

The Kerala High Court on Monday permitted BJP councillor Sugathan R, who is currently under preventive detention, to take oath of office inside prison on July 14 at 11 AM [Sugathan R v State of Kerala & ors].

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan observed that the mandate of the electorate cannot be defeated merely because an elected representative is under preventive detention.

The Court delivered the judgment on a petition filed by Sugathan, who sought directions to enable him to comply with an earlier judgment of the Court which required him to retake the oath as councillor of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.

"Oath to be taken in 14.07.2026 at 11am inside the prison. Accredited media persons will be allowed inside to participate," the judge said.

Earlier today, the Director General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali, submitted that since Sugathan is in jail due to his detention under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), he could not be released merely to take the oath of office.

Referring to Article 22(3) of the Indian Constitution, he argued that persons detained under preventive detention laws are excluded from the safeguards available to ordinary arrested persons under Article 22(1) and (2).

However, the Court stated that it was concerned about the democratic mandate given by the electorate which had elected Sugathan despite the cases and allegations against him.

"This person was elected despite all the cases against him, right? He has the mandate of the people. See whether the oath can be administered inside the prison. If necessary, I will implead the Superintendent of the Prison" the Judge remarked orally.

The judge also added that accredited member of the news media should be permitted to be present when the oath is administered.

"Allow some accredited media person inside the jail, because this is democratic process where they are taking oath, so people should also know what happens inside the oath taking place," the judge stated orally.

The case arose after the Court, in a judgment delivered on June 24, declared the oath taken by Sugathan and several other councillors as invalid, on finding that they swore allegiance in the name of various deities, political martyrs, and movements instead of taking oath in the manner Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (Municipality Act).

The Court had then noted that elected representatives are required to take their oath of office either in the name of God or by making a solemn affirmation as prescribed under the Kerala Municipality Act.

However, it directed authorities to facilitate the councillors for taking their oaths afresh within a period of four weeks while protecting the validity of their official acts till the date of the judgment.

While the other councillors subsequently took the oath, Sugathan could not do so because he was detained under the KAAPA Act on June 9 and has remained in Viyyur Central Prison.

According to the petition, despite repeated representations to the State government and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, no steps were taken to enable him to take the oath.

The corporation later informed him that the oath taking ceremony had been scheduled for July 14 at the Corporation's Conference Hall.

Sugathan then sought temporary release to attend the ceremony and stated that the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II, Nedumangad granted him interim release from the evening of July 13, until the night of July 14, solely for the purpose of attending the swearing-in ceremony.

Despite this, he alleged that the State had not taken any decision on his request for release or otherwise facilitated compliance with the High Court's earlier direction.

He submitted that since he continued to remain under preventive detention pursuant to the KAAPA order, the interim bail by itself would not enable his release unless the government permitted it.

Advocates Suvin R Menon, P Vijayakumar, TC Krishna, Parshathy SR, Govind P, Achuth Krishnan R and Cristy Therasa Suresh appeared for the petitioner.

The State was represented by Director General of Prosecution.

[Read Judgment]

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