A petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court alleging that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) unlawfully accessed and misused personal data of government employees and citizens to send bulk WhatsApp messages publicising the State government’s achievements ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

The plea has been moved by Dr Rasheed Ahammed P, an associate professor and syndicate member of the University of Calicut, along with Anil Kumar KM, a clerical assistant in the General Administration Department. Both petitioners stated that they received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from the CMO targeting government employees in the run-up to the elections, scheduled for May 2026.

According to the petition, the contact details were allegedly sourced from official government databases, particularly the Service Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK), which stores service and salary records of State government employees. The data, the petitioners said, was originally submitted solely for administrative purposes such as salary processing and service-related benefits.

The plea alleged that personal data collected through SPARK and other government schemes was consolidated and transmitted to the CMO through agencies like the Kerala State IT Mission, following which bulk political messages were sent to the personal WhatsApp accounts of government employees and citizens without their consent. It was further claimed that even members of the judiciary may have received such messages, as their details are also maintained in official State databases.

Terming this practice a violation of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution, the petitioners argued that transferring personal data to the CMO for publicity amounted to an unconstitutional breach of informational privacy. They also invoked the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, alleging lack of consent, transparency and legal authority in the use of such data.

The petition seeks directions restraining the State government and the CMO, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, from accessing or using citizens’ mobile numbers, email IDs and other personal information for publicity or campaign purposes. The petitioners have also sought compensation for the alleged misuse of their data and an order preventing the CMO from sending further such messages.

The plea was filed through advocates Nisha George, AL Navaneeth Krishnan and Kavya Varma M, while senior counsel George Poonthottam is set to appear for the petitioners.