Tuesday marked a turning point for Kerala’s ‘Nava Kerala Survey’ as the Supreme Court stayed the Kerala High Court’s prohibitory order, handing the state administration a crucial win. The survey, designed to scrutinize welfare scheme efficacy, can now move forward.
KSU petitions last week painted the exercise as a politically charged, publicly funded pre-election maneuver. The High Court concurred, nullifying it over funding irregularities and implementation flaws.
Kerala countered in the Supreme Court, where senior counsel Kapil Sibal defended the state’s authority to appraise scheme performance via data surveys.
The bench endorsed this view, noting massive public investments necessitate impact assessments. Political critiques notwithstanding, such surveys are essential administrative tools, it ruled.
Questioning intervention grounds, the court emphasized restraint absent constitutional infirmities, critiquing overreach in executive domains.
Permitting resumption, it required a Rs 20 crore cost affidavit from the government. Next date: April 13.
The verdict navigates tensions between oversight and operational freedom, bolstering data-centric policy refinement nationwide.