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Thiruvananthapuram, April 21 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cannot wash his hands like Pontius Pilate, said a top Congress leader, on the stoic silence of the chief minister in the raging Sprinklr data scam controversy, while the Kerala High Court, hearing a petition on this, expressed its displeasure and asked the state government to come back with more answers on Friday.The data scam refers to transferring health data of all coronavirus suspects in the state to a US-based PR and marketing company Sprinklr, owned by a Keralite.On Monday, Vijayan instead of answering questions raised by the media, slammed the opposition and the media and asked those behind this to come out with the truth.Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said that it was he who had raised this data scam first, but to date he has not been given any answers."Vijayan has to answer. He cannot wash his hands like Pontius Pilate did. It's most shady because not even a single department of the government barring the IT secretary, directly under Vijayan was aware of this data scam," said Chennithala to the media."Vijayan innocently, the first time after I raised it, said, this Sprinklr company is owned by a Malayalee in the US and since the state government was taking care well of his aged parents, he decided to take up the data analysis of Covid-19 for free. But this is one of the biggest scam and only a CBI probe will reveal the truth. During extraordinary times, this is extraordinary looting," said Chennithala.In a related development, hearing a petition against this deal, the Kerala High Court came down heavily on the Vijayan government and asked it to come back on Friday with answers. It asked why the law department was kept out of this deal and directed that no data should be uploaded.The court said that the reply of the state government is dangerous and asked it not to upload anymore data, unless the court is given the answers.The court also asked why is that this work is not being done by the IT departments of the state government and why is that the jurisdiction of the agreement is kept as New York.It also asked the government to see the Covid epidemic should not turn into a data epidemic.State Law Minister A.K. Balan had earlier pointed out that there was nothing wrong, if the law department did not endorse it and if anyone had any issues they could approach the court.Now with the Kerala High Court clearly expressing its displeasure and Balan's department will now have to answer these questions.Meanwhile, at the CPI-M state secretariat meeting here, the paty fully endorsed Vijayan's replies and applauded his work in tackling Covid-19.Pontius Pilate is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion.( With inputs from IANS )

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The central government on Thursday submitted a statement in the Kerala High Court on the three petitions challenging the contract between Kerala government and US-based data analytics company Sprinklr. ...

State government has filed its response in Kerala High Court on a plea challenging its COVID-19 data processing contract with a US-based company and said that the contract terms and non-disclosure agreement (NDA) will ensure data security and privacy ...

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday asserted he has nothing to hide on the transfer of coronavirus data to Sprinklr, a US-based PR and marketing company. ...

Even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his party continue to remain silent on transfer of coronavirus data to Sprinklr, a US-based PR and marketing company, Congress Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala moved the Kerala High Court, her ...

A petition has been filed in Kerala High Court seeking directions to the state government to bring back COVID-19 affected Malayali nurses from across the country to Kerala claiming that the condition in other states is deteriorating by the day. ...

Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to file a report on a petition challenging its agreement with US-based company Sprinklr for processing of data related to coronavirus patients. ...

Kerala High Court on Tuesday took suo moto notice of news reports about deteriorating water quality of Periyar river and sought reports from State Pollution Control Board and Water Authority. ...

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cannot wash his hands like Pontius Pilate, said a top Congress leader, on the stoic silence of the chief minister in the raging Sprinklr data scam controversy, while the Kerala High Court, hearing a petition on ...