One hurdle in New York behind her, Devyani Khobragade faces another in New Delhi

Her children hold dual citizenship, a crime under Indian law.

By Deepak Chitnis

WASHINGTON, DC: Just one day after Devyani Khobragade’s indictment in the US was thrown out in New York, a fresh controversy is brewing back home in New Delhi as it has now come to light that Khobragade’s two young daughters held both Indian and American passports, a clear violation of Indian law.

Indian laws forbid holding dual-citizenship, leading to questions as to how Khobragade’s daughters were able to obtain US passports if they already had Indian ones. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has announced that they are launching an investigation into the matter, a turnaround by the government that has defended Khobragade unequivocally during the diplomatic row that started on December 12.

Speaking to The Hindustan Times, Khobragade’s father, Uttam Khobragade, said that both the daughter are natural-born US citizens, as they were born on US soil, so therefore were granted US passports. But because they were born to a consular officer, they also received Indian diplomatic passports, and also said that the US passports were kept “in the custody of the Indian [UN] mission in New York.”

Khobragade’s husband, Aakash Singh Rathore, is also a US citizen, and according to reports has applied for Indian citizenship. He has also reportedly accepted a teaching job at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. Although the Indian government has not yet taken any action against Khobragade or her family, there is the lingering question of why Khobragade did not disclose the fact that her children had two passports, even if she felt that she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

The US State Department has not commented on the new passport brouhaha, but has exonerated Khobragade of her visa fraud and false statement charges, at least for now. An official with the State Department told the media that she was “surprised” by the dismissal of the indictment, but could not comment further, referring all other inquiries to the Justice Department.

The office of Preet Bharara – the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who spearheaded the legal action against Khobragade – has said that US courts have not prohibited him launching any new indictments against her for alleged criminal activities, and therefore they “intend to proceed accordingly.”