Plea in Kerala High Court against CMO over access of government employees data

A petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court alleging that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) unlawfully accessed personal information of government employees and citizens, including their mobile numbers and email IDs, to send unsolicited messages publicising the State government's achievements ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. [Dr Rasheed Ahammed P & anr v State of Kerala and ors].The petition has been filed by Dr Rasheed Ahammed P, an associate professor and syndicate member of the University of Calicut, along with Anil Kumar KM, a clerical assistant in the general administration department.Both petitioners are aggrieved by the bulk messages they received on WhatsApp from the CMO, which targeted government employees to promote the achievements of the State government ahead of the 2026 Legislative Assembly Elections which is slated to be held in May.According to the plea, the contact details of the government employees and other officials were obtained from official databases, particularly the Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK), an e-governance platform that stores service records and salary information of State government employees.This data is originally submitted only for administrative purposes such as salary, credit alerts and other service benefits.However, the petitioner has contended that the personal data collected under SPARK and various other government schemes, appear to have been consolidated and transmitted to the CMO through agencies such as the Kerala State IT Mission and later bulk messages were sent to personal WhatsApp accounts of government employees and other citizens with the intention of influencing public opinion before the assembly elections.As per the plea, phone numbers of citizens were being illegally extracted and used for publicity purposes without consent and even members of the judiciary may have received such messages as their details are also maintained in the State government's official databases..According to the petitioners, collecting citizens' contact details without consent amounts to violation of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution, as the personal data provided to government projects are strictly meant for administrative views. Transferring such data to the CMO for publicity purposes would constitute a breach of privacy."The unlawful and unauthorized access to the individual data at the instance of Chief Minister’s office would enable profiling, tracking and surveillance of an individual, far beyond the original purpose for which the data is purportedly used, as the same was used under the cover of an epidemic. When the Chief Minister’s Office itself engages in or permits such practices, without lawful authority, consent and safeguards, it amounts to a serious constitutional violation of the informational privacy/autonomy. It is an unauthorized act," the petition added.Thus, invoking the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the petitioners have also alleged the CMO of lacking transparency, legal basis or consent before using data of government employees for sending campaign messages.They have requested the Court to restrain State government authorities including the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from accessing or using citizens mobile numbers, e-mail addresses and other personal information for similar purposes.In addition, they have also sought compensation for the misuse of their data and an order preventing the CMO from sending further messages..The plea was moved through advocates Nisha George, AL Navaneeth Krishnan and Kavya Varma M.Senior counsel George Poonthottam will appear for the petitioners..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.