Star Health data leak case: Madras High Court dismisses appeals by Punjab-based hacker

Madras High Court dismisses hacker's appeals in Star Health data leak case, citing unauthorized access and ongoing legal proceedings.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (April 8, 2026) dismissed a batch of six writ appeals filed by a Punjab-based cyber security expert who had reportedly accessed sensitive personal data related to the customers of Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited.

Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan said, the appellant Himanshu Pathak was facing civil as well as criminal cases for unauthorised access of the data and hence, no direction could be issued against the insurance company at his instance.

The judges also recorded the submission of senior counsel Krishna Ravindran, representing the insurance company, that the appellant had unauthorisedly hacked into its computer system, accessed the customer data, and then demanded $65,000 for providing cyber security services.

It was only after the insurance company filed a civil suit in 2023 and obtained an interim injunction restraining him from sharing the customer data in the public domain, besides lodging a police complaint against him, that he had sent complaints to various authorities against the company.

A single judge had refused to direct the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Insurance Regulatory and Developmental Authority of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, and such other authorities to act on the basis of his complaints and hence, the present appeals.

Not finding any reason to entertain the appeals, the Chief Justice’s Bench said, the interim injunction had been granted against the appellant in the civil proceedings only after being convinced that his action in having accessed the customer data of the insurance company was prima facie illegal.