Read Time: 09 minutes

Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has granted interim relief to Malabar Gold Limited in a case concerning defamatory social media posts targeting the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, alleging it offers scholarships only to muslim girls.

Justice Bharati Dangre, made the order on Thursday, directing the removal of prima facie defamatory content and comments advocating for a boycott of the company, emphasising the potential harm caused by misleading and baseless posts circulated by the defendants.

The court’s intervention came after Malabar Gold Limited (Plaintiff), a prominent jewellery manufacturer and trader operating under the brand name "Malabar Gold and Diamonds," filed a lawsuit seeking damages of Rs. Seventy Crores against defendants Kajal Shingala, Murali Iyengar, and Shefali Vaidya.

The defendants allegedly posted derogatory comments and communal remarks on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, insinuating favouritism based on religion in Malabar Gold's philanthropic activities.

According to the plea, Kajal Shingala, identified as Defendant No.1, purportedly singled out a photograph from the plaintiff's scholarship distribution event, highlighting girls from the Muslim community, and proceeded to make disparaging remarks on various social media platforms. Co-defendants Murali Iyengar and Shefali Vaidya echoed these sentiments on Twitter (now “X”) but removed their posts upon notice from the plaintiff.

Shingala’s post read:

"Who buys more gold and silver - Hindus. Who earns more from Malabar - Hindus. By earning from Hindus, who is giving scholarships with the same money - to Muslims. Where the owner of the company is Mu-Salman, Mu-Salman also benefits from earnings. It's different that he earns from Hindus. But look at our Hindu industrialist, secular worms have been bitten that they do not see religion while giving scholarships with their earnings, so this is the condition of Hindus. #BoycottMalabar”

Malabar Gold argued that by dissemination of such statements, the defendants had attempted to tarnish the company's image through the campaign labeled as “#BoycottMalabar."

The court noted that while Kajal Shingala,“may carry her own opinion on an issue, but by uploading only one particular photograph out of the entire stack of photographs clicked, when the scholarships were conferred upon the girl child across wide spectrum, without verifying the veracity of post, definitely would cause harm to the secular societal structure of the country and in particular when the post prima facie is baseless.”

Specifically, the court criticised Shingala, for selectively choosing one photograph from a series depicting Malabar Gold's scholarship distribution event. This act, the court remarked, misrepresented the company's commendable initiative of providing scholarships to girls from various backgrounds.

Moreover, the court highlighted that the CSR activities of Malabar Gold are carried out in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. However, the dissemination of false information by the defendant on various social media platforms, as highlighted by Malabar Gold, was deemed as an intentional effort to harm the company's reputation.

“Such post definitely has the effect of damaging the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff. Various unknown people and third parties are re-posting the same and this has the potential to create a divide in this united country, which definitely is not in the interest of the citizens of this country,” the court said.

Recognising the urgency of the situation and the potential irreparable damage to Malabar Gold's reputation, the court issued directives against Shingala, ordering her to immediately remove the defamatory statement from her Twitter handle. She was further restrained from issuing further defamatory statements against Malabar Gold or its associates.

Additionally, the court directed social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, along with META Platforms Inc., to take down any comments or posts related to the defamatory content.

The court has scheduled the matter on July 8, 2024 for further consideration.

Malabar Gold Limited was represented by Mr.Karl Tamboly a/w Nidhi Singh, Shubham Khaire, Ishan Gambhir, Brian Noronha, Akshata Parkar i/b India Law LLP.

Mr. Akash Manwani a/w Chanakya Keswani i/b ELP and Mr. Vaibhav Singh a/w Bryan Pillai i/b Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. , appeared for the defendants.

 

Cause Title: Malabar Gold Limited Versus Kajal Shingala & Ors. [INTERIM APPLICATION (L) NO.15613 OF 2024]