Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Kerala High Court's order stopping the state government from proceeding with the Nava Keralam survey. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the interim order while issuing notice on the state's Special Leave Petition challenging the High Court judgment.

The bench, however, directed the state to submit, at an appropriate stage, a report detailing the expenditure incurred for the programme. At the outset, Justice Kant questioned the basis of the challenge. "Why cannot a state assess the impact of its schemes and explore how they can be improved? What is wrong with that?" he asked.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, told the court that not a single paisa had been paid to volunteers.

Counsel for the respondents — the petitioners before the High Court — argued that the programme was essentially a "public relations campaign" by the ruling party at the state's expense. He submitted that the CPM Secretary had information about the scheme even before it was officially notified by the government.

"Sometimes a local-level leader makes a statement," Justice Kant observed. In response, the respondents' counsel maintained that the statement was made by the CPM state secretary and not a local leader.

"The ploy is to send party workers to each house at the government's expense; ₹23 crore, which was not part of the appropriation bill, has been allocated for this. This is a publicity scheme on the eve of elections using government funds. This is the High Court's scathing finding," the counsel argued.
However, the bench proceeded to stay the High Court's order. 

The programme was challenged before the High Court on the grounds that it amounted to a publicity campaign ahead of elections and involved the use of party workers.

The High Court had held that the utilisation of public funds under the Information and Public Relations Department violated the Rules of Business and financial norms, and directed the State to keep all further steps in abeyance.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M had allowed two public interest litigations challenging the programme launched by a government order dated October 10, 2025.
(With LiveLaw inputs)