Mallya quits Whyte & Mackay board

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya and several prominent directors have quit the board of Whyte & Mackay in a surprise move.

According to Herald Scotland, Mallya as well as chief executive John Beard and director Ayani Nedungadi have all announced that they will be stepping down with immediate effect.

The move comes barely a month after Diageo acquired a 25% controlling stake in United Spirits.

Mallya was effectively forced into a deal with the British drinks giant after running into financial difficulties – particularly with his airline company, Kingfisher.

Meanwhile, according to The Economic Times, Mallya is now also looking at potential prosecution in India for non-payment of taxes.

The newspaper reported last week that there had been “hints” from the Indian tax department that Mallya could face prosecution for tax evasion.

Apparently Kingfisher Airline has debts of Indian rupee (INR) 1.9 billion, INR 1.2bn of which were related to lawsuits.