Thiruvananthapuram Corporation councillor R Sugathan, now detained in Viyyur Central Jail for offences under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA), has been granted interim bail by Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) II, Nedumangad, for the sole purpose of attending his repeat swearing-in on July 14. 

This does not mean that Sugathan can take the oath on the last date fixed by the High Court for the rectification oath. For this to happen, the Vazhottukonam councillor has to secure an interim bail order from the High Court where he is tried for KAAPA offences. Without Sugathan, the BJP is one short of majority in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

"The petitioner was primarily arrested in KAAPA proceedings, and hence it is made specific that this order applies only to the crimes pending before this court and does not bind the proceedings under the KAAPA Act," the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) II, Nedumangad, said in its order on Thursday.

The JFCM order relates only to cases under sections 296 (b) (obscene songs in public spaces), 110 (attempt to murder), 118 (voluntary causing hurt) and 3(5) of Bharathiya Nyaya Samhitha.

The bail window thrown open by the JFCM Court is 5 pm on July 13 to 9 pm on July 14, and includes the travel time from Viyyur to Thiruvananthapuram. 

The JFCM directed that Sugathan should be present at the Corporation's main conference hall at 11 am on July 14 and cannot remain there for more than half an hour. He has to leave the premises on or before 11.30 am. By 9 pm on July 14, he has to return to Viyyur Jail.

The interim bail has been granted to honour the High Court verdict on June 24 that invalidated the oath taken by 20 BJP councillors. The Court then ordered that these councillors should take the oath once again within four weeks. 

"The petitioner is an elected representative of the people and seeks permission solely for the purpose of taking the oath as a councillor pursuant to the directions of the High Court. if such permission is denied, it deprives him of his right to assume a democratically elected office, which will ultimately affect the democratic process," the JFCM Akshaya P R said, and added that Sugathan was merely given a chance to comply with the High Court order.

The BJP councillors had taken oaths in the name of Hindu deities, even martyrs and Sree Narayana Guru. Sugathan had taken an oath in the name of the Guru ('Gurudeva namathil').

Kerala Municipality and Panchayat Acts stipulate that elected members should either to make a solemn affirmation or to take oath in the name of God. "When the statute prescribes a particular manner in which an oath is to be taken by the elected members in a democracy, i.e., either in the name of God or a solemn affirmation, the expansion of 'God' is not permissible," the High Court had said in its June 24 order.

Except Sugathan, who was in jail, the remaining 19 councillors had repeated their oaths on June 25.

The assistant public prosecutor, appearing for the state, argued that the court had no jurisdiction in this case as Sugathan was taken into custody under KAAPA. 

The JFCM disagreed. "It is well settled that in the power to grant bail, there is an inherent power in the court concerned to grant interim bail to a person pending the final disposal of the bail application," the magistrate said, and added that the grant of interim bail did not extend to the KAAPA cases for which Sugathan has been detained in jail.

The state government had also argued that Sugathan's presence at the swearing-in ceremony could cause law and order problems. The reference was to the highly charged atmosphere that developed within the Corporation after the repeat swearing-in ceremony on June 25. A day later, the BJP and LDF councillors had nearly come to blows.