Kochi, 27 Feb (H.S.):The Kerala government has informed the High Court that a recent WhatsApp message sent by the Chief Minister to government employees was purely informational in nature and did not amount to election campaigning. In an affidavit submitted before the court, the government asserted that no personal data of employees had been leaked or misused in the process.

The message, which was delivered to government employees on the morning of the 21st, informed them about the sanctioning of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears and the restoration of House Rent Allowance (HRA). According to the affidavit, the communication did not mention any political party nor did it solicit votes. The government also pointed out that elections have not yet been announced in the State and that the Model Code of Conduct is not currently in force.

The affidavit clarified that employees’ data had not been shared with any third party or private institution. The messages were sent through a WhatsApp platform developed and managed by the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) to disseminate government service-related information to citizens. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) does not store such employee data, the government stated, rejecting allegations of data leakage.

The message addressed employees individually by name, which triggered criticism from opposition leaders. They alleged that the government had misused official phone numbers provided by employees for administrative purposes and accused it of exploiting personal data for political gain.

During earlier proceedings, the High Court had questioned how the Chief Minister’s Office accessed information from the SPARK (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala) software system, which contains employee service records. The court observed that, prima facie, it appeared that data may have been leaked and directed the government to clarify whether any breach had occurred.

In response, the government filed the detailed affidavit denying any unauthorised access or data breach. It maintained that the communication was intended solely to inform employees about benefits granted by the State and was sent through authorised digital infrastructure without compromising personal information.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman