A day after the Kerala High Court pulled up the state government over alleged breach of privacy, senior Congress leader and CWC member Ramesh Chennithala accused the state Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) of orchestrating a massive collection of personal data from government employees, calling it a “blatant case of data theft” and a major political conspiracy.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, Chennithala released a letter revealing that the Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Sreeram Sambasiva Rao had directed departments to hand over sensitive information, including data from SPARK (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala), a web-based system for government employees.
He said he was placing before the media a letter dated December 31, 2025, sent by the OSD to the Chief Mission Director of the Information Kerala Mission demanding that the data be transferred to the Information and Public Relations Department (I&PRD). According to him, the letter states that the government was introducing a digital communication platform titled the “Centralised Notification Hub for Government Services,” and that preparatory work had commenced under the PRD.
The Congress leader alleged that the move amounted to a serious breach of privacy and hinted at a larger political conspiracy. “This constitutes a large-scale data breach executed directly by the Chief Minister’s Office, amounting to a total violation of employees’ privacy. The responsibility for this action rests with the Chief Minister himself,” Chennithala alleged.
Terming it a “naked example of data theft”, Chennithala alleged that the move was made on the Chief Minister’s direct instructions with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections.
“No such communication could have been issued without the Chief Minister’s explicit approval,” he said, adding that the involvement of the OSD made it clear that the directive originated from the Chief Minister’s Office.
“The government and the Chief Minister have committed a grave mistake. If there is any morality left, the Chief Minister should resign,” he said.
He claimed that a data trade similar to the controversial Sprinklr episode was underway, and that personal information of government employees was being leaked and potentially misused.
He further alleged that the collection of sensitive personal information of lakhs of government employees and pensioners ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections raised serious concerns about potential misuse for campaign-related purposes, and constituted a breach of data protection norms and privacy laws.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan said personal information should not be shared or leaked without explicit consent.He alleged that the CMO had leaked the data of government employees and teachers on a large scale and demanded a criminal case against those responsible. “Leaking data is a crime. The data can be misused or even sold. Are there people in the Chief Minister’s Office who do not know that data is a valuable asset?,” Satheesan asked.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday orally observed that there is “prima facie, an intrusion of privacy,” in the alleged use of personal data of government employees by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to send bulk WhatsApp and email messages highlighting the LDF government’s achievements ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.