Shopian Court Grants Interim Relief to Pesticide Dealers in Rs 2-Crore Defamation Suit

By Aijaz Dar

Shopian, August 1: The Court of the Principal District Judge in Shopian has issued an interim order restraining an advocate from publishing or circulating alleged defamatory content against six local pesticide dealers. The court also directed Meta Platforms to examine specific Facebook links identified by the plaintiffs and disable access to or remove the material in accordance with applicable legal obligations.

The order was delivered by Principal District Judge Mehmood Choudhary during proceedings on a civil suit filed by the pesticide dealers against Advocate Abdul Basit Bhat and Meta Platforms, seeking two crore rupees in damages. The plaintiffs asserted that defamatory videos and statements shared on Facebook severely damaged their business reputation and goodwill, accumulating substantial public viewership and online circulation.

Finding that the applicants established a prima facie case with the balance of convenience favoring interim protection, the court barred the first defendant from uploading, reposting, or sharing any further disparaging content concerning the plaintiffs pending further adjudication.

Additionally, Meta Platforms was instructed to review the provided URLs and take appropriate action to restrict access to the contested material. The court emphasized that these observations remain tentative and will not influence the final merits of the main suit, which is scheduled for further proceedings.