Kottayam: Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Tuesday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF government, accusing them of illegally using the personal data of government employees for election campaigning.

Terming the incident a "major crime", Satheesan demanded a comprehensive investigation into the alleged data breach. "Data leakage is a serious offence. Such data can be misused and even sold," he told reporters while speaking during the UDF Puthu Yuga Yathra at Kanjirappally.

The controversy erupted after a petition was filed before the Kerala High Court, alleging that mobile phone numbers were unlawfully accessed from information submitted by government employees on the SPARK portal and used to send messages linked to election campaigning.

The High Court on Tuesday orally observed that bulk WhatsApp messages sent to government employees and judges through the office of the Chief Minister appear to be an intrusion into privacy.

Satheesan said the data breach was a grave issue and alleged that officials in the Chief Minister's Office were fully aware of the seriousness of the matter. He further claimed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF leadership also bore responsibility in the incident. 

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that the incident amounted to an intrusion into privacy and granted the State government time until Friday to submit an explanation.