The Kerala High Court has sought the State government’s explanation within two weeks, on public interest litigations (PILs) filed in 2020 by Congress leader and former Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and former BJP State president K. Surendran, seeking compensation to COVID-affected people and those under observation whose medical data was allegedly ‘leaked’ in the Sprinklr case.
They had further alleged that there was corruption in the contract that had been inked with Sprinklr, a U.S.-based firm. The government had then contended that the PILs had little relevance, since the period of contract with the firm had expired.
The court had subsequently sought amendments to the demands if any in the PILs. Subsequently, the petitioners sought details of people who were affected by the data leak and the payment of compensation for them.
The firm had in May 2020 submitted an affidavit before the High Court, stating that the back up data of COVID patients and those who were under observation that was stored in the server of the data analytical firm, had been permanently deleted.
In July 2022, Congress leader Jyothikumar Chamakkala had filed a petition before the High Court, demanding that the government clarify the legal status of the agreement with the firm and whether it had facilitated the sale of data for a price.
