Prosecution carries on with case.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The US Department of State has ruled that Devyani Khobragade did not, in fact, enjoy diplomatic immunity from her alleged crimes of visa fraud and making false statements at the time of her arrest on December 12 of last year, effectively giving permission for Southern District of New York Attorney Preet Bharara to continue his prosecution of the Indian Deputy Consul General.
The announcement is a stunning reversal of the ruling that occurred on January 8, when Khobragade was allowed full diplomatic immunity as part of her position as a member of India’s Permanent Mission to the UN. However, the following day, she was formally indicted by a federal grand jury on the aforementioned charges, but Khobragade left for India rather than stay in the US, leaving behind her husband and two children.
Prosecutors are contending that by leaving the US, Khobragade relinquished her diplomatic and consular statuses, meaning that she must now be tried for the charges that could land her a decade behind bars in the US. The Department of State has now backed what its law enforcement arms has been saying for weeks, saying that whatever privileges Khobragade may have enjoyed in December do not hold any water now.
”The Department of State concludes that Devyani did not enjoy immunity from arrest or detention at the time of her arrest in this case, and she does not presently enjoy immunity from prosecution for the crimes charged in the indictment,” says the statement put out by the State Department on January 29, which is signed by Stephen Kerr, attorney and advisor in the Office of the Legal Advisor for the State Department.
Bharara’s office is now using the findings of the State Department to re-file his case against Khobragade. He is also saying that Khobragade hired her maid, Sangeeta Richard, well before she became a member of the UN Mission, meaning that any laws she broke in hiring Richard were committed before her immunity was invoked and are therefore still fair game for prosecuting.
Her lawyer, Daniel Arshack, is saying that Bharara has once again misinterpreted and misrepresented the facts of the case, saying that he believes the courts will make the right decision in clearing his client’s name. The Indian government is also maintaining that Khobragade always had immunity, standing behind their consular officer and leading to speculation that the two countries may go back to butting heads.
The news that the Khobragade scab is once again being picked at comes at a time when the US and India are making strides toward rebuilding their relationship. US envoys from the Food and Drug Administration and the US Export-Import Bank are set to visit India later this month, and both countries are attempting to get talks back on track with regard to trade and the civil nuclear deal.
The detrimental effects of the Khobragade case are compounded by the recent announcement of US federal agencies to downgrade India’s aviation sector and pharmaceutical plants for not meeting international safety standards.