On Thursday Mallya's defence counsel, Clare Montgomery sought to back up her opening arguments that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on behalf of the Indian government had failed to establish a prima facie case of fraud against her client.
Vijay Mallya's defence today brought in a banking expert at his extradition trial as a witness to analyse the documents used by the liquor baron to seek loans from Indian banks for his then struggling Kingfisher Airlines and emphasise that he had no intention to act "fraudulently".
Paul Rex was deposed on day three of the ongoing trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London to determine whether the 61-year-old businessman can be forced to return to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting around Rs 9,000 crores.
Rex, who was described as a banker by profession who has served as an independent expert in the field for over 20 years, was used to highlight that Mallya had no intention to act “fraudulently”.
While the CPS stand is that Mallya did not intend to repay the loans he sought because his airline's demise was inevitable, Montgomery is trying to establish that Kingfisher Airlines was suffering from consequences of a wider global financial crisis around 2009-2010.
Going through the written witness statements the banking expert pointed to an appraisal in February 2012 by SBI presented to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the Kingfisher Airlines loan, seeking its recategorisation from "sub-standard" to "standard".
Rex, also highlighted that he has also served as an expert in a previous litigation involving State Bank of India (SBI) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the late 1990s and told the court that "banks tend to behave in a herd-like manner" and that banks hold their central banks in a very "high degree of deference".
"SBI is the largest bank in India and one of the most reputable...If it was another bank, I would take note of the fact that SBI had supported a business in a positive way," Rex said. The witness is likely to remain central to Thursday's hearing, with CPS barrister Mark Summers set to cross-examine him later in the day.
Rex was the second defence witness to take the stand, following aviation expert Dr Humphreys, who had been brought in on Tuesday to support the defence argument that there was no intentional fraud involved in the default on bank loans by the then struggling Kingfisher Airlines.
A time frame for a judgement in the case will be determined at the end of the trial after closing arguments have been made.
If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya’s extradition within two months. However, the case can go through a series of appeals in higher UK courts before arriving at a conclusion.
The judge has asked both sides to submit a document laying out the factors for and against the admissibility of the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities by the end of this week.
Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds tour the Royal Opera House in London
