Kochi, February 23 A petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court seeking to prevent the CMO from sending emails and messages, allegedly aimed at government officials, highlighting the achievements of the state government, claiming that this constitutes an election campaign.
The petition was filed by Dr. Rasheed Ahammed, an associate professor at a college in Malappuram, and Anil Kumar K M, a clerical assistant at the Government Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.
The respondents in the petition are the Kerala government, the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Relations, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the Kerala State IT Mission, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
They stated that they are prepared to pursue the matter as a Public Interest Litigation if required.
They claim to be aggrieved by a mass messaging campaign from the Chief Minister's Office, allegedly targeting state government employees and others receiving salaries and benefits under various schemes in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
According to them, the messages were sent by accessing private data provided for informing employees about their monthly salary and benefits.
"This is nothing but an election campaign, resulting in an intrusion into the privacy of citizens by the state without their consent, by accessing the private data of government employees and others who have provided their details for crediting their monthly salary in the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK)," the petition stated.
SPARK is an e-governance initiative under the Finance Department of Kerala, operational since 2007, aimed at digitalizing HR-related services and salary data of government employees.
The petitioners contend that the unsolicited nature of the messages raises serious concerns regarding how citizens' mobile numbers were accessed and used.
"It appears that the personal contact numbers/mobile numbers of the citizens were accessed and used by the CMO, ensuring that the government is always there to protect the welfare and rights of its employees," the petition said.
They allege that email IDs submitted by government officials are being used to disseminate what they describe as the perceived achievements of a political party.
"The collection of contact numbers/mobile numbers is a clear violation of the right to privacy protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, as held by the constitutional bench of the Apex Court," the petition states.
The petitioners seek a declaration that the procurement of personal data of government officials by the CMO and its use for disseminating such messages is a violation of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
They further allege that accessing their personal data is illegal, as it was done without legal sanction and contrary to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
The petitioners seek directions restraining the respondents from accessing mobile phone numbers and email IDs to send messages highlighting government achievements. They also seek directions to the CMO to compensate those whose data was allegedly accessed without authorization.
The petition will be considered by the court soon.