Sprinklr contract not entirely scrapped, Govt tells HC

Kochi: The state government has submitted in the High Court that the contract signed with Sprinklr for Covid data collection is still in place. Though the ownership of data and its analysis are with the government, the government has not withdrawn from the contract on availing the software.

However, the government said in the High Court that it has ensured the security of the entire data collected by Sprinklr. The High Court was considering various petition filed, including the one by the opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, against the transfer of data of people afficted with Covid-19 to Sprinklr, a data analyst firm headquartered in US.

While considering the pleas, a division bench comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chali, asked the government if the contract has not been withdrawn. On this, the government made it clear that the contract has not been withdrawn. The contract regarding the software is still alive. C-Dit, an undertaking of the state government, has the monopoly over the collected data. The government also requested to finalise the plea at the earliest considering the urgency due to the present situation.

The request was submitted as NS Nappinai, an expert lawyer in a cyber law firm, appeared directly for the government in the court. The lawyer appeared after obtaining special permission from the court.

Meanwhile, the court said that the case merits a detailed hearing and only a limited number of cases are being considered by it. The lawyer of Ramesh Chennithala asked for more time to have an explanation from the government and to file a response. Accepting the request, the case was adjourned for hearing after one month.