The Kerala High Court rejected a petition claiming that the Chief Minister’s Office misused personal data to send bulk WhatsApp messages promoting the state government’s achievements before the 2026 Assembly elections. The court stated that the messages about salary components like Dearness Allowance and House Rent Allowance were administrative and not political campaigning.
The court emphasized that informing employees about salary benefits is a governance measure, not illegal campaigning. The petition, filed by Dr. Rasheed Ahammed P and Anil Kumar K.M., objected to receiving government achievement messages via WhatsApp from the CMO.
The petitioners argued that sharing data from the Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK) for bulk messaging violated privacy rights. They alleged that personal data was shared with the CMO through agencies like the Kerala State IT Mission for messaging purposes.
The petitioners invoked Article 21 of the Constitution and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, claiming unauthorized use of personal information. They requested the state and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to refrain from using such data and sought compensation. The Court dismissed the petition, finding no wrongdoing established.
