Plea In Kerala High Court Alleges CM Office Illegally Accessed Personal Data Of Judges, Govt Employees For Bulk Messaging Before Elections

A plea has been moved before the Kerala High Court alleging that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) has violated the privacy of government employees by illegally accessing their personal information, including mobile phone numbers, email IDs.The plea has been moved by an employee of State's Department of General Administration along with an Associate Professor of KTM College, Malappuram who is also an elected member of the Syndicate of the University of Calicut.In their plea, it is stated that they are aggrieved by the bulk messaging campaign received from the CMO, which was primarily targeting state government employees by highlighting the achievements of the government. According to them, the personal information of the state government employees, judicial officers and beneficiaries of government schemes was illegally accessed by the CMO.They have stated that they are unsure of how the information was collected and it is assumed that there was illegal access of the information given through 'SPARK' (Service Pay Roll Administrative Repository for Kerala). SPARK is an e-governance centre digitising all HR related services and salary data of government employees. After accessing the information, unsolicited bulk messaging was sent to the employees and scheme beneficiaries in order to propagate an election campaign, it is stated. Moreover, it is also alleged that public exchequer funds have been unauthorisedly used for disseminating messages through Whatsapp.“Apart from the data available in SPARK, data stored by the Government under various schemes and projects also have been collected by the office of the Chief Minister violating all norms of data protection. However, it has now come true that the entire data has been transmitted to the office of the Chief Minister through Kerala IT Mission, yet another body under the control of the Government for compiling on behalf of the Chief Minister, who is a representative of the political party facing the next hustings which is due in March – April 2026…messages are widely circulated in the personal whats' app account of the government employees and other citizens, aiming at an election campaign, in order to influence the public opinion ahead of the election polls. It is understood that the message has been sent to the judges in judiciary, their particulars are also enrolled the SPARK,” states the plea.The plea further makes out a case that the illegal collection of the contact numbers of the citizens amounts to violation of the right to privacy protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. The action, according to them, also amounts unauthorised access of personal data in contravention of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act). Praying for intervention of the Court, the petitioners has sought a declaration that the procurement of their personal data without consent by the CMO is a violation of right to privacy, an illegal action and contrary to the DPDP Act.They have also prayed for a direction restraining the respondents, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, from accessing mobile numbers, email IDs and other data of citizens.Additionally, they have asked for a direction against the CMO to compensate them monetarily for unauthorisedly accessing their data. As an interim relief, it is prayed that the CMO is restrained from disseminating messages to citizens through mobile numbers and email IDs.Since, there is an element of public interest involved in the case, the petitioners have agreed to take necessary steps if the matter has to be heard as a public interest litigation.The petition is moved by Advocates George Poonthottam (Sr.), Nisha George, A.L. Navaneeth Krishnan and Kavya Varma M.Case No: WP(C) 7090/2026Case Title: Dr. Rasheed Ahammed P. and Anr. v. State of Kerala and Ors.

Plea In Kerala High Court Alleges CM Office Illegally Accessed Personal Data Of Judges, Govt Employees For Bulk Messaging Before Elections

K. Salma Jennath

Tags