Diplomat visa fraud case: India sore as Devyani Khobragade faces jail
New York: An arrest warrant was on Saturday issued against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges after her fresh indictment by US prosecutors who accused her of “illegally” underpaying and “exploiting” her domestic maid.
Ms Khobragade, 39, who was arrested in New York on December 12 and has since been transferred to the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi, faces arrest if she visits the US where her husband and two children are staying.
Following the fresh 21-page indictment, US Attorney in Manhattan, India-born Preet Bharara, said in a letter to US District Judge William Pauley that an “arrest warrant was also issued today” against the diplomat and that the government “will alert the court immediately upon the defendant’s arrest so that an appearance before the judge may be scheduled”.
The new charges, which came two day after a US court dismissed an earlier indictment on Wednesday, accused Ms Khobragade of visa fraud and making false statements about the visa application of her maid Sangeeta Richard. The indictment states that the diplomat “knowingly made” multiple false representations and presented false information to US authorities in order to obtain a visa for a personal domestic worker.
The fresh indictment filed in a court in Manhattan also charges that Ms Khobragade submitted to the US state department an employment contract of her domestic worker which she knew contained “materially false and fraudulent statements.”
Meanwhile, an angry India has slammed the second indictment of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade and warned that this will impact bilateral ties. The ministry of external affairs said on Saturday that her fresh indictment “was an unneccessary step”.
It also made it abundantly clear that “any measures conesequent to this decision in the US will, unfortunately impact efforts on both sides to build the Indo-US strategic partnership to which both sides are committed”.
MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin also made it clear that that, “As far as India is concerned, we reiterate that the case has no merit” and that “this indictment has no impact on our stated position”.
He added that with Ms Devyani returning to India, the US court “has no jurisdiction in India over her”. He said Indian government “will, therefore, no longer engage on this case in the United States legal system”. Meanwhile, Ms Khobragade’s father Uttam Khobragade said the re-indictment showed the prosecutor had “no respect” for their own law.
