The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that oaths of office taken by all UDF and LDF councillors of the Kannur Corporation be declared invalid, citing the recent Kerala High Court judgement that set aside the oaths taken by 20 BJP councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for deviating from the prescribed statutory format.

BJP Kannur North district president K.K. Vinod Kumar said the Hight Court verdict should be applied to Kannur Corporation as well. He alleged that all Muslim councillors of the United Democratic Front had failed to take oath either “in the name of God” or by making a “solemn affirmation”, as prescribed under the Kerala Municipality Act 1994 and instead used a different form of oath. He contented that the High Court’s ruling in the Thiruvananthapuram case was applicable to Kannur Corporation as well.

He further alleged that T.P. Jamal, the senor most councillor who first took the oath before the District Collector and subsequently administered the oath to other councillors, had himself violated the statutory format. Since Jamal’s oath was allegedly invalid, Vinod Kumar claimed that the oaths administered by him to other councillors were also legally unsustainable.

According to the BJP leader, 24 councillors of the ruling fron had taken the oath in violation of the prescribed procedure. He demanded that the oaths of the Mayor and all UDF and LDF councillors be cancelled and that the Mayor and the ruling council resign. He said the BJP would submit a formal complaint before the competent authorities seeking appropriate action.

The demand comes in the wake of the Kerala High Court’s June 24 judgment declaring invalid the oath taken by 20 BJP councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation after they invoked names of various deities, martyrs, and political movements and other entities instead of following the statutory wording. The court directed the councillors to retake the oath in the prescribed manner within four weeks. As many as 19 BJP councillors subsequently took the oath again.