The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition alleging that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had misused personal data of government employees and citizens to send bulk WhatsApp messages highlighting state government achievements ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
A bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas ruled that the messages did not violate the right to privacy and could not be considered political campaigning. The court noted that the communications primarily concerned administrative matters, including salary components such as Dearness Allowance (DA) and House Rent Allowance (HRA).
“The nature of the message relates to salary and other benefits and cannot be regarded as a political campaign,” the bench said. It added that informing employees about entitlements constitutes governance by a welfare state rather than an illegal act.
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The petition, filed by Dr. Rasheed Ahammed P, an associate professor, and Anil Kumar K.M., a clerical assistant in the General Administration Department, contended that the messages were sent using contact details from the Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK), an e-governance platform maintaining employee service and salary records. The petitioners argued that the data was intended strictly for official purposes and alleged its circulation to the CMO via agencies, including the Kerala State IT Mission, amounted to misuse.
Invoking Article 21 of the Constitution and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the petitioners sought to restrain the state and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from using personal data without consent and also requested compensation. During proceedings, the state had assured the court that no further messages would be sent pending resolution and sought permission to send ‘Thank You’ messages to contributors of the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, which the petitioners opposed.
With Tuesday’s ruling, the High Court held that no illegality had been established, effectively dismissing the petition and allowing the CMO to continue its administrative communications to employees.
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