Mallya may get Queen’s Counsel to defend him in UK court

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya is in touch with the Queen's Counsel (QC) Clare Montgomery in his fight against the India government and reports said the QC might, most probably, defend Mallya at the hearings in British courts.

Meanwhile, the UK's state prosecutor, the Crown's Counsel (CC) at the UK court where Mallya's extradition case will come up for hearing is reported to be satisfied about the initial evidences of ''dishonesty'' against Mallaya in the Rs900-crore IDBI bank loan default case.

A joint investigative team of CBI and Enforcement Directorate has returned with assurances to this effect from London. The team has handed over a folder with 1,500 pages of documents, including notes related to clarifications sought by the Crown's counsel and supporting documents like bank details.

The Enforcement Directorate has also handed over three attachment orders related to Mallya.

The case will be heard at the London's Metropolitan court later this month.

However, the Crown's counsel is still not sure whether the evidence against Mallya is enough to establish criminality both under Indian Penal Code and under UK's Fraud Act of 2006.

The joint investigative team claimed the Crown's counsel was prima facie convinced that it was a case of fraud and not business failure. But he has sought further statements related to the investigation.

Intelligence agencies believe that Monday's Supreme Court verdict, which has held Mallya guilty of misleading it regarding his wealth, will help the case in the UK (See: SC finds Mallya guilty of contempt over $40-mn transfer to kids).