(Eds: Dropping an extra word in para 2)By Aditi KhannaLondon, Dec 7 (PTI) Vijay Mallya's defence today broughtin a banking expert at his extradition trial as a witness toanalyse the documents used by the liquor baron to seek loansfrom Indian banks for his then struggling Kingfisher Airlinesand emphasise that he had no intention to act "fraudulently".
Paul Rex deposed on day three of the ongoing trial atWestminster Magistrates' Court in London to determine whetherthe 61-year-old businessman can be forced to return to Indiato face charges of fraud and money laundering allegedlyamounting to around Rs 9,000 crores.
Mallya's defence counsel, Clare Montgomery, today soughtto back up her opening arguments that the Crown ProsecutionService (CPS) – on behalf of the Indian government – hadfailed to establish a prima facie case of fraud against herclient.
The testimony by Rex, who was described as a banker byprofession who has served as an independent expert in thefield for over 20 years, was used to highlight that Mallya hadno intention to act "fraudulently".
While the CPS stand is that Mallya did not intend torepay the loans he sought because his airline's demise wasinevitable, Montgomery is trying to establish that KingfisherAirlines was suffering from consequences of a wider globalfinancial crisis around 2009-2010 and that its failure was aresult of factors beyond the company's control.
Going over parts of his written witness statements, thebanking expert pointed to an appraisal in February 2012 bySBI presented to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on theKingfisher Airlines loan, seeking its recategorisation from"sub-standard" to "standard".
Rex, who highlighted that he has also served as an expertin a previous litigation involving State Bank of India (SBI)and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in thelate 1990s, told the court that "banks tend to behave in aherd-like manner" and that banks hold their central banks in avery "high degree of deference".
Their assessment at this time is "quite straightforward",that despite facing severe constraints every effort is beingmade by the airline including an infusion of substantialfunds, he noted.
"SBI is the largest bank in India and one of the mostreputable...If it was another bank, I would take note of thefact that SBI had supported a business in a positive way," Rexsaid.
The witness is likely to remain central to Thursday'shearing, with CPS barrister Mark Summers set to cross-examinehim later in the day.
Indian government sources have described the CPS case as"very strong" and claimed they remain confident that basedpurely on the "merits of the case" and "documentary evidence",an Indian government victory is assured.
Mallya, via his legal team, had claimed earlier in theweek that the case against him was "politically motivated" andthat it was being used as an opportunity to make "politicalcapital" by the ruling BJP as well as Congress and Shiv Sena.
Laying out her counter-arguments before Judge EmmaArbuthnot, Montgomery had also called into question the"admissibility" of some of the evidence submitted by the CrownProsecution Service (CPS), on behalf of the Indian government.
She claimed that much of the material was questionableand there were at least a dozen documents submitted which readlike an identical "template".
The judge has asked both sides to submit a documentlaying out the factors for and against the admissibility ofthe evidence submitted by the Indian authorities by the end ofthis week.
But government sources have asserted that the evidence isbased on a set template but the content within the documentscannot be described as a "template".
While the defence claims there is "zero" evidence tosupport a credible case of fraud against Mallya, the CPS hadopened the trial on Monday with a detailed chronology ofevents to show "by virtue of evidence a prima facie case"against the boss of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The prosecution's case rests on "three chapters ofdishonesty" by Mallya – misrepresentations to various banks toacquire loans, the misuse of the loans and his conduct afterthe banks recalled the loans.
"Instead of acting as an honest person and doing what hecould to meet his obligations, he sets about erecting lines ofdefence," CPS counsel Mark Summers told the judge.
The charge of money laundering, for which Mallya had beenre-arrested in October, is being focussed on less at thisstage with fraud being central to the CPS case.
The hearing today, took place over some "interruptions"while Judge Arbuthnot attended to other cases.
Rex was the second defence witness to take the stand,following aviation expert Dr Humphreys, who had been broughtin on Tuesday to support the defence argument that there wasno intentional fraud involved in the default on bank loans bythe then struggling Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya, who has been based in the UK since March 2016,was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant inApril this year and has been out on bail on a bond worth650,000 pounds.
His extradition trial is scheduled to end on December 14,with Friday marked as non-sitting day. A timeframe for ajudgement in the case will be determined at the end of thetrial after closing arguments have been made.
If the judge rules in favour of extradition at the end ofthe trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya'sextradition within two months. However, the case can gothrough a series of appeals in higher UK courts beforearriving at a conclusion. PTI AK NSA AKJNSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.