Kerala govt moves SC against cancellation of Nava Keralam survey, says party's letter can't invalidate state's scheme

A day after the High Court division bench cancelled the Nava Keralam citizen outreach survey, the state government filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court seeking interim relief on Wednesday. 

The government launched the initiative as a public outreach and development feedback initiative intended to obtain suggestions and opinions from members of the public regarding development and welfare measures, to understand local developmental needs and to gather inputs for improving implementation of governmental schemes, according to the petition filed by the Government's Standing Counsel C K Sasi.

In the petition, the government said that the High Court interfered with the state's power to implement governance and development outreach programmes and seriously prejudiced the ability of the state to take policy decisions involving public expenditure and thus disturbed the constitutional balance between the executive and judiciary.

The HC quashed the programme while considering a petition filed by the KSU State President Aloysius Xavier and Perumbavoor resident MH Mubas. It was submitted that the High Court erred in placing reliance upon the communication issued by a political party functionary to draw an adverse inference against the state government. A communication issued by a political party cannot form the basis for invalidating a governmental programme in the absence of any material establishing that the state government acted under dictation or at the behest of any political party, the petition cited.

CPM State Secretary MV Govindan had issued a letter on September 23, 2025, directing party cadres to dominate the volunteer portal. Seventeen days later, on October 10, 2025, the government formally issued the order launching the programme. The HC observed that the existence of the circular prior to the scheme's formal introduction "cannot be disputed," thereby weakening the government's defence that the matter fell purely within the domain of policy.

The government also challenged the HC observation on the department responsible for conducting the programme.  The question as to which department should implement a particular governmental programme is purely an internal administrative matter within the exclusive domain of the state government and is not justiciable, the SLP cited.