Overview
- A Kerala High Court division bench set aside the October 10, 2025 order authorising Rs 20 crore from a 'Special PR Campaign' head and ordered the survey’s implementation kept in abeyance.
- Judges cited violations of the Rules of Business, questioned fiscal discipline, and noted the programme fell outside the Information and Public Relations Department’s remit.
- The court flagged a CPI(M) state secretary’s letter urging cadres to register on the volunteer portal before the Cabinet decision and said the unexplained timing lent credence to partisan-use allegations.
- Petitioners challenged the door-to-door exercise, launched January 1 and slated to run through February 28, arguing volunteers were enlisted via the Samoohya Sannadha Sena portal meant for disaster response.
- In its Special Leave Petition, the state argues the High Court overreached into policy by voiding a Cabinet-approved programme and related financial actions, while opposition leaders hailed the order as vindication.