A public interest litigation (PIL) filed on June 23 by advocate Raja Vikrant Sharma alleges that Chandigarh’s Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) e-Admission portal operates without SSL/HTTPS encryption. The portal requires applicants to submit sensitive data such as bank details, Aadhaar numbers, and biometric information over an unencrypted system, raising concerns about data security, according to medianama.com.
The PIL includes a screenshot dated February 10, 2026, showing the portal lacking HTTPS/SSL encryption. An RTI response revealed that Chandigarh’s Department of Information Technology does not have a separate budget for SSL certificates or cybersecurity audits. Instead, these costs are included in a consolidated e-Governance and IT infrastructure budget of Rs. 15.37 crore for FY 2025-26, down from Rs. 17.1 crore in FY 2024-25, medianama.com reported.
The RTI also disclosed that most IT infrastructure at the UT Data Centre has reached its end of life, with new procurement still in progress. Cybersecurity audits are not conducted regularly; the department empanels a security auditor for FY 2026-27 who performs audits on an ad hoc, request-based basis. This situation highlights gaps in cybersecurity governance for critical government portals, per medianama.com.
The PIL is currently pending in court, challenging the Directorate of Higher Education’s handling of applicant data and the lack of mandatory encryption protocols on the admissions portal, as detailed by medianama.com.