Vikram Varma
Encyclopedia
Vikram Varma is a prominent Indian
advocate based in Goa
who is originally from New Delhi
. Vikram Varma achieved his prominence in representing highly publicized cases by the news media, mostly involving foreigners, such as the sensational Scarlett Keeling case which captured the imagination of the Indian public. The Keeling case started when some local authorities tried to cover up the death of a 15 year old British girl as a drowning accident. The case was debated in the Local Parliament and even mentioned in the national Parliament in Delhi
. It was widely covered by media including BBC, The Guardian
, The Times
, CNN-IBN, Times of India and other national media. It has been transformed into a documentary by Channel 4
and a Bollywood
movie.
The Russia
n Consulate appointed Vikram Varma as their advocate in Goa as more than 30,000 Russians visit Goa, India every year. Married to Meenal, a fashion designer, the couple have a daughter and a son, Aishvarya and Amay.
Some of the highly publicized cases in Goa are:
A number of attempts were made to attack and harm Keeling's mother Fiona MacKeown, and her legal team including hacking
email
s of only one of the parties in the legal case. The hacker only attacked the legal team of the victim. Eventually, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) took over the investigation. A CBI supplementary charge sheet has concluded of culpable homicide
and molestation and their report led to arrests in Goa. The case is sub judice
in Indian Courts and the suspects are out on bail.
In July 2009 in an attempt to embarrass MacKeown and her legal Team, email correspondence of Vikram Varma and his clients were leaked to Wikileaks
. Wikileaks published an independent report headlined 'In Goa we trust: the rape
and murder
of British school girl Scarlett Keeling' in which Wikileaks wrote 'The autopsies showed that Scarlett had sandy water in her lungs and around 50 bruises and abrasions, suggesting that she had drowned in shallow water after a struggle'. This independent Wikileaks report headline, reinforcing what MacKeown and Varma had been asserting from Day 1, further galvanised media coverage of the case.
Vikram Varma is currently residing and holds his office in Porvorim. Forbes has interviewed Vikram because of his expertise on the Complex Land Laws in Goa (Business.In Link below)
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
advocate based in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
who is originally from New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. Vikram Varma achieved his prominence in representing highly publicized cases by the news media, mostly involving foreigners, such as the sensational Scarlett Keeling case which captured the imagination of the Indian public. The Keeling case started when some local authorities tried to cover up the death of a 15 year old British girl as a drowning accident. The case was debated in the Local Parliament and even mentioned in the national Parliament in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. It was widely covered by media including BBC, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, CNN-IBN, Times of India and other national media. It has been transformed into a documentary by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and a Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
movie.
The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Consulate appointed Vikram Varma as their advocate in Goa as more than 30,000 Russians visit Goa, India every year. Married to Meenal, a fashion designer, the couple have a daughter and a son, Aishvarya and Amay.
Some of the highly publicized cases in Goa are:
- Ingo Grill (deported) & his Saturday Night Market vs. Government
- Scarlett Keeling case
- Tourism Minister Micky Pacheco
A number of attempts were made to attack and harm Keeling's mother Fiona MacKeown, and her legal team including hacking
Hacking
Hacking may refer to:* Computer hacking, including the following types of activity:** Hacker , activity within the computer programmer subculture** Hacker , to access computer networks, legally or otherwise...
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
s of only one of the parties in the legal case. The hacker only attacked the legal team of the victim. Eventually, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) took over the investigation. A CBI supplementary charge sheet has concluded of culpable homicide
Culpable homicide
Culpable homicide is a specific offence in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular jurisdiction has defined the offence...
and molestation and their report led to arrests in Goa. The case is sub judice
Sub judice
In law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment", means that a particular case or matter is currently under trial or being considered by a judge or court...
in Indian Courts and the suspects are out on bail.
In July 2009 in an attempt to embarrass MacKeown and her legal Team, email correspondence of Vikram Varma and his clients were leaked to Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
. Wikileaks published an independent report headlined 'In Goa we trust: the rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of British school girl Scarlett Keeling' in which Wikileaks wrote 'The autopsies showed that Scarlett had sandy water in her lungs and around 50 bruises and abrasions, suggesting that she had drowned in shallow water after a struggle'. This independent Wikileaks report headline, reinforcing what MacKeown and Varma had been asserting from Day 1, further galvanised media coverage of the case.
Vikram Varma is currently residing and holds his office in Porvorim. Forbes has interviewed Vikram because of his expertise on the Complex Land Laws in Goa (Business.In Link below)
External links
- http://www.hindustantimes.com/CBI-says-scarlett-not-raped-family-shocked/Article1-468165.aspx CBI says scarlett not raped, family shocked
- http://business.in.com/article/on-assignment/the-big-goa-land-grab/6762/2
- http://facenfacts.com/NewsDetails/4345/cbi-lawyer-quits-scarlett-case.htm CBI lawyer quits Scarlett case
- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cbi-counsel-quits-scarlett-murder-case/articleshow/7417998.cms CBI counsel quits Scarlett murder case
- http://www.channel4.com/programmes/who-killed-scarlett
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/03/scarlet-keeling-film-goa-murder
- http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4015&pg=1&mod=1§ionId=1&valid=true Mother sold TV rights to aftermath of Scarlett killing
- http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/In_Goa_we_trust__the_rape_and_murder_of_British_school_girl_Scarlett_Keeling,_1220_pages,_2008/ In Goa we trust: the rape and murder of British school girl Scarlett Keeling, 1220 pages
- http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/In_Goa_we_trust__the_murder-coverup_of_British_school_girl_Scarlett_Keeling,_files,_2008/ In Goa we trust: the murder-coverup of British school girl Scarlett Keeling, files
- http://www.metro.co.uk/news/764077-drugs-link-to-india-murder-probe
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7436569.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7310282.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7633487.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7507766.stm
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/18/fiona-mackeown-scarlett-keeling-murder
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/25/india.scarlett
- http://www.daylife.com/article/04qlf2if7Veez?q=Vikram+Varma Goa police issues warrant against German national
- http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20090319/ingo-denied-business-visa-india/ai_n39552186/ Ingo denied business visa to India
- http://www.goanobserver.com/will-we-ever-find-out-the-truth-about-nadia Will we ever find out the truth about Nadia? | Goan Observer
- http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/mafia-hunting-for-russian-owner-of-goa-resort-lawyer_100256776.html Mafia hunting for owner of Goa resort