Turned out, Malabar Gold is not ‘Pakistan Sympathizer’
The Bombay High Court Wednesday asked online platforms, including Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram owner Meta, Google owner Alphabet, and X to remove posts calling Malabar Gold and Diamonds a ‘Pakistan sympathizer’
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court Wednesday asked online platforms, including Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram owner Meta, Google owner Alphabet, and X to remove posts calling Malabar Gold and Diamonds a ‘Pakistan sympathizer’.
The case relates to the inauguration of Malabar Gold and Diamonds showroom in Birmingham, UK on September 06, 2025 where, along with hundreds of other guests, Pakistan-origin UK based influencer Alishba Khalid was also present.
Alishba was earlier in news for making some unwarranted and controversial remarks against India’s Operation Sindoor. Highlighting this, some social media users posted messages calling Malabar Gold a sympathizer of Pakistan.
The Dubai based leading jewelry giant approached the court, saying in its defence, along with Alishba Khalid, its brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor, the Mayor of Birmingham, the Consulate-General of India and members of parliament besides over 10,000 attended the opening event.
“The outlet was inaugurated by our brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor. Alishba was just one the attendees. Also, she was hired for the promotion by JAB Studios much before the Pahalgam terrorist attack”, Malabar Gold said in its defence.
Malabar Gold also submitted that the online posts were a “deliberate attempt by its competitors targeting the brand image”.
Agreeing with Malabar Gold's submissions, a single bench of Justice Sandeep Marne in its interim order asked the defamatory posts removed from the online platforms including Meta Platform (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), Google (YouTube) and some news agencies.
While ordering an ad-interim injunction in favour of Malabar Gold, the Court emphasised that mere utilisation of services of the influencer could not justify defamatory content being spread by competitors.
The Court also observed that the Malabar Gold had discontinued the influencer’s services and argued that it could not be connected to her activities, especially since the controversial posts were made after her engagement ended.
A similar negative campaigns against Malabar Gold and Diamonds were ran back in 2019 following which the Kozhikode sub-court II had ordered Sudarshan TV Channel Founder Suresh Chavhanke to pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the leading gold and jewelry brand.
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