A social media storm linking Malabar Gold & Diamonds to Pakistan has been cut short by the Bombay High Court, which stepped in with a sharp order directing Meta and other platforms to pull down hundreds of posts deemed defamatory.
The dispute traces back to Malabar Gold’s plans to launch a new showroom in Birmingham, UK. To create buzz, the company roped in influencers through JAB Studios—among them, Alishba Khalid, a UK-based Instagram personality of Pakistani origin.
What began as routine promotional activity spiraled after Khalid publicly criticized India’s surgical strikes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. Malabar Gold quickly severed ties, insisting it had no knowledge of her political leanings when hiring her. Yet, competitors allegedly seized the moment, fueling online claims that the jeweller sympathized with Pakistan.
Malabar Gold told the Court that over 442 URLs carried such content, strategically circulated to damage its sales during the festive season. The Court found merit in the complaint, granting an ad-interim injunction that forces Meta and others to scrub the material from their platforms.
Justice Sandeep Marne, in his order, emphasized that merely hiring a UK-based influencer at one point cannot justify defamatory allegations against the brand. The Court’s directions are clear:
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All 442 flagged URLs must be removed.
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No further defamatory posts linking Malabar Gold to Khalid are to be allowed.
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Any fresh defamatory URLs reported must be acted upon, with unresolved disputes returning to Court.
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A specific defendant is barred from circulating such claims in print.
The injunction remains in force until November 11, when the matter is scheduled for its next hearing.
Malabar Gold, pointing to calculated attempts to malign its reputation, framed the case as one not only about business but about defending against targeted smear campaigns in the digital era. The Court, for now, has agreed.