Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram mayor V V Rajesh and opposition leader K S Sabarinadhan welcomed the Kerala high court ’s decision, permitting BJP councillor and Kaapa detainee R Sugathan to retake his oath of office at Viyyur Central Jail, though they offered contrasting interpretations of the verdict.Rajesh said the judgment reaffirmed the judiciary’s commitment to protecting the democratic mandate of elected representatives. “None of the 101 elected councillors will be disqualified. We will continue to govern for the full five-year term. The court has consistently held that the mandate of electorates must be protected,” he said.Rajesh said he would travel to Viyyur ahead of the ceremony and confirmed that the oath would be administered at the time fixed by the court. He also dismissed concerns over attendance at council meetings, saying a councillor would not be disqualified merely for failing to sign the attendance register. “Such situations are part of politics. This is not a case of victimisation and we have no disagreement with the court’s decision,” he added.Congress functionary Sabarinadhan, while welcoming the order, said it underscored the seriousness with which the high court viewed the Kaapa proceedings against Sugathan. According to him, the court allowed the oath only to protect the democratic right of the electorate to have their chosen representative assume office.“Had that not been the case, I believe the verdict would have been different,” he said.Sbarinadhan maintained that the court order had no bearing on the question of Sugathan’s disqualification, which would have to be considered separately by the municipal council in accordance with law.Sabarinadhan also described it as “an embarrassment for Thiruvananthapuram and an affront to good governance” that a councillor of a BJP-led corporation would have to take the oath 288km away in a prison, unable to enter either the corporation limits or his hometown.Sugathan is scheduled to retake the oath at 11am on Tuesday. The high court has directed the state govt to make the necessary arrangements and permitted the mayor, a limited number of officials and accredited media personnel to attend the ceremony.The ceremony will mark a first in Kerala’s political history, with Sugathan becoming the first elected representative in the state to take the oath of office from inside a prison.Sugathan, the councillor representing ward 20, is among those whose earlier oath of office was declared invalid by the high court after it held that the oath had been administered in violation of statutory rules by invoking the names of multiple deities.
