The Kerala High Court on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, issued a stern warning to the State Government and sought an immediate explanation on how the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) allegedly accessed private contact details of nearly five lakh government employees, judicial officers, and welfare scheme beneficiaries.
The court was hearing a petition alleging that the CMO bypassed privacy safeguards to send unsolicited, personalised WhatsApp messages carrying the Chief Minister’s photograph and highlighting government achievements, including the recent 10% DA hike, allegedly as part of outreach ahead of the May 2026 Assembly elections.
Court Flags Privacy Concerns
During the hearing, the Bench noted a clear “lack of privacy” in the mass messaging exercise and examined claims that data may have been accessed from the SPARK (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala) portal – a database meant strictly for salary and administrative purposes.
The court specifically scrutinised the alleged transfer of data via the Kerala State IT Mission to the CMO.
Observing that use of administrative data for political promotion could amount to a serious privacy violation, the court directed the State to clarify the legal basis for such data processing. It also instructed authorities to halt further dissemination of such WhatsApp messages until the data source is legally verified.
The court further directed the CMO to stop sending the messages immediately.
Congress Levels Sharp Allegations
The development comes a day after the Kerala Congress publicly accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of misusing official SPARK databases for election propaganda.
In a series of posts on X, the party alleged: “Kerala is witnessing state-sponsored data theft! CM @pinarayivijayan is caught red-handed using official SPARK databases to spam government employees and people with election propaganda. This is a massive breach of trust and individual privacy,” the post read.
The party further said: “Why is @AshwiniVaishnaw looking the other way? Is it because of the unholy CPM-BJP alliance we see in Kerala?. Pinarayi has clearly mastered the Modi playbook, turning governance into a PR spectacle and using public money for a “snooping” infrastructure,”
Kerala Congress also cited a previous High Court ruling that had quashed a ₹20 crore data-harvesting survey as a “colourable exercise of power” violating Article 166(3) Rules of Business.
Kerala is witnessing state-sponsored data theft! CM @pinarayivijayan is caught red-handed using official SPARK databases to spam government employees and people with election propaganda. This is a massive breach of trust and individual privacy.
Why is @AshwiniVaishnaw looking… pic.twitter.com/jB5wXLvV3G
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) February 23, 2026
Privacy law angle
The petitioners have argued that the alleged data use violates the fundamental Right to Privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution as well as provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.
The High Court has sought the State’s response and is expected to examine the legality of the data flow, the role of SPARK records, and whether proper consent mechanisms were followed.
Further proceedings in the matter are awaited.
Source: ANI
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