Kottayam, Feb 25 (IANS) A day after the Kerala High Court came down heavily on the State government over alleged breach of privacy, senior Congress leader and CWC member Ramesh Chennithala escalated the attack, accusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of directly orchestrating a large-scale collection of personal data of government employees.

Addressing a press conference, Chennithala alleged that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had written to SPARK, the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala seeking comprehensive personal details of employees across departments.

Terming it a “naked example of data theft”, he released a copy of the letter that he claimed originated from the CMO.

According to Chennithala, Sambasiva Rao, Officer on Special Duty in the CMO, sent the communication directing that employee data be compiled department wise and converted into Excel sheets through the K-SMART platform.

The information was allegedly to be handed over to the Special Secretary of the Public Relations Department (PRD).

The data sought reportedly included names, phone numbers, job details and other personal particulars of all government employees.

“This could not have happened without the knowledge of the Chief Minister,” Chennithala asserted, describing it as one of the “largest data breaches” in the State.

He alleged that the move was made on the Chief Minister’s direct instructions with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections, calling it a blatant violation of Supreme Court privacy safeguards.

The letter, he said, was sent last December, directing that the data be furnished before February 2026 and submitted to the PRD Director before the 12th of this month.

It allegedly mentioned that the information was being collected for “personal” purposes.

The allegations gained traction against the backdrop of sharp observations made by the High Court, which questioned the safeguards in place to protect personal information of government employees.

The court asked how such data was accessed and whether it was available to anyone, warning the government against sending further messages and seeking a detailed explanation.

The bench, headed by Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, issued notice to the government, directing it to clarify the source of the data and respond promptly.

The petition, filed by leaders of Congress-affiliated organisations, alleges misuse of employee data provided to SPARK project management, a charge the court termed serious.

With the judiciary demanding answers and the Opposition pressing for accountability, the alleged data harvesting controversy has swiftly escalated into a politically charged confrontation.

–IANS

sg/svn