Inquiry panel gives clean chit to Sprinklr deal

Report says there was no data loss or loss to public exchequer

A government inquiry has cleared Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar of the charge of mala fide abuse of position in the engagement of U.S.-based big data firm, Sprinklr, ostensibly to forecast the pandemic pattern in the initial days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Kerala in early 2020. The panel headed by former Law Secretary and District Judge K. Sasidharan Nair found no “evil design, malice or bad faith" in the Sprinklr deal. There was no data loss or loss to the public exchequer. The panel faulted Mr. Sivasankar for keeping the Law, Finance and Health Departments in the dark about the nature of the government’s engagement with Sprinklr. He should have sought prior consent of the departments, the panel said. Mr. Sivasankar also did not adhere to a security protocol for the transfer and storage of sensitive data.