The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 24, 2026) stayed the decision of the Kerala High Court, which had quashed the order approving Rs 20 crore for the Nav Kerala Citizen Response Programme. This decision has brought a big relief to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.
Paving the way for the continuation of this scheme, the bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the respondents including the petitioners who appeared in the High Court on the appeal of the state government. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the state government, said that not a single penny has been given to the workers of the Marxist Communist Party (CPI-M) in Kerala.
The Chief Justice said that prima facie, there is nothing wrong if the state government takes the help of government employees in assessing the impact of welfare schemes at the grassroots level. The counsel for the respondents had alleged that the government was taking the help of its employees and party workers for public relations activities before the elections.
On February 17, the High Court had quashed the government order authorizing Rs 20 crore for the Nav Kerala Citizen Response Programme, terming it abuse of executive power and violation of rules. A bench headed by Chief Justice Soumen Sen of the High Court had expressed concern that the budget allocation to the departments was not being followed properly.
The court had also said that no explanation was given as to how a letter was issued by CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan to people associated with the party calling upon them to participate in the program and register on the Samajik Swayamsevak Bal portal, much before the Cabinet decision and government order in this regard.
The High Court had made this comment while hearing separate petitions filed by Kochi resident Mubas MH and Kerala Students Union (KSU) state unit president Aloysius Xavier. The program and fund allocation were challenged in the petition.
The petitioners argued that the government was misusing public funds for personal and political gains of the ruling party or coalition. While hearing the petitions, the bench had said that this program was not started earlier and was started at a time when the schedule of assembly elections is about to be announced.
