The verdict will likely come out in early January. There is a lot of speculation if he will or won't be extradited, but one thing that is guaranteed is the media circus around his case is set to continue.
It was a dramatic start to the highly anticipated extradition case of Vijay Mallya, the Indian magnate accused of $1.4 billion fraud by the government authorities.
Moments before his 10am hearing, an alarm forced evacuation of the court house. The flamboyant businessman had to stand outside of Westminster Magistrates Court while a hostile scrum of international reporters peppered him with questions. He didn't comment. He paced for 45 mins but he couldn't shake the throng of journalists.
Nearly an hour later, his hearing begins with the opening remarks of the lawyer representing the Indian government, Mark Summers.
In his opening statement he says the focus will be on three Kingfisher loans.
It's clear that this will be a dry, document-led case. The judge is handed four thick binders of document evidence. There is an issue with the pagination of the volumes. It seems that how the documents have been page numbered has led to confusion. It's an awkward start for the prosecution.
Mallya's face is impassive; if he is finding the courthouse confusion funny, he is giving nothing away.
A request for a bank loan by Kingfisher Airlines is where prosecution's evidence begins.
"1st Oct 2009, a letter from Kingfisher asking for a loan of 9.5 thousand crores...a week later, on the 7th Oct 2009 Kingfisher puts in a second bid for another loan of 150 crore," said Summers.
"This was an airline in trouble at this stage (Oct 2009) and that is why it was looking for assistance for a large amount from a number of banks."
Mallya looked down and stifled a yawn. The morning session was highly technical.
When Mallya pops out for a coffee and smoke during the break he is swarmed once again by reporters. He says he has nothing to say and tells them to wait for his defence lawyer, Claire Montgomery, to present his case.
The afternoon session resumed and Summers continued to outline the case.
"It was clear that he was never going to pay back the loans," says Summers.
"His company was in intensive care, it was heading in one direction and as it went down it was going to sustain huge losses," he went on that "either you (Mallya) take those losses on yourself and impinge on yourself or put it (the debt) on the bank."
Two weeks have been booked to hear this case. Mallya's lawyer will outline his defence on Tuesday. The verdict will likely come out in early January. There is a lot of speculation if he will or won't be extradited, but one thing that is guaranteed is the media circus around his case is set to continue.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Vijay Mallya")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}