Plea filed in Kerala HC against bulk messaging campaign by CMO ahead of assembly polls

Kochi: A petition has been filed in high court challenging a bulk messaging campaign allegedly carried out by the chief minister's office (CMO), primarily targeting state govt employees ahead of assembly elections by accessing private data provided for the crediting of their monthly salaries.HC will consider the petition filed by P Rasheed Ahamed, an associate professor at KTM College, Malappuram, and K M Anil Kumar, an employee of the department of general administration, Thiruvananthapuram, on Tuesday. The petitioners have challenged the bulk messaging campaign, alleging that the CMO illegally accessed the mobile numbers of citizens, particularly govt employees, which were collected for various official purposes. The petitioners also produced copies of the WhatsApp messages they received, which highlighted the increase in dearness allowance and dearness relief and assured that the LDF-led govt would continue to safeguard the welfare and rights of citizens.They alleged that the messages amount to election campaigning and that the act amounts to an intrusion into citizens' privacy. According to them, the state sent these messages using private data, including mobile numbers, accessed from information provided by govt employees for crediting their monthly salaries using the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK) software, without their consent. As per their understanding, about five lakh employees are currently enrolled in the system, and the procurement of personal contact details from SPARK for a mass campaign is illegal and unauthorised.The petitioners have sought a declaration that the procurement of their personal data by the CMO and its use for disseminating such messages violates their right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. They have also sought a direction restraining the state govt from accessing mobile numbers, email IDs or any other personal identifiers of citizens to disseminate messages highlighting the achievements of persons holding public office.