Kerala HC slams CM Vijayan’s office for grave breach of privacy
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) over allegations that it accessed and used personal data of government employees to circulate promotional messages, observing that the matter involved a serious intrusion into privacy.
Hearing a petition challenging the alleged use of employees’ contact details from official databases, the Court questioned how the CMO obtained information from the Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK).
It pointed out that earlier orders clearly stipulated that personal data collected for official purposes must not be used for any other purpose.
“How did these private details reach the Chief Minister?” the Court asked, terming the allegations grave.
The Bench observed that the government’s action, prima facie, amounted to an invasion of privacy.
It also remarked that the State was disseminating information that people had not sought.
The Court repeatedly sought to know from the government the source of the data and under what authority it had been accessed.
It issued notice to the State government seeking a detailed explanation on the issue.
During the hearing, the government pleader informed the Court that no further messages would be circulated until the matter is taken up again.
Recording the submission, the Court made it clear that messages should not be sent in the interim.
The High Court further directed the government to file a detailed affidavit specifying how many messages had been sent from the CMO and to how many individuals.
The affidavit is expected to clarify the mechanism through which the data was obtained and used.
The case is scheduled to be considered again on Friday.
The observations assume significance amid allegations that bulk messages publicising the State government’s achievements were sent to government employees ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
The Court’s prima facie finding of a privacy breach places the focus squarely on data governance practices within the government.
Surprisingly this has been done by a Communist government when their national leaders always speaks of data privacy.
Last week the High Court came down heavily on a state-sponsored survey and that also was stopped, after it found out that the CPI-M the ruling party came to know of the survey and had gone public, even before the state government came out with the order about the survey.