New York: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, whose arrest and stripsearch soured Indo-US relations, on Thursday won dismissal of a federal indictment against her in the visa fraud case with a US judge ruling she had full diplomatic immunity.
In a major relief for 39-year-old Khobragade that came exactly three months after her arrest, District Judge Shira Scheindlin said in her 14-page order “it is undisputed” that the diplomat acquired full diplomatic immunity at 5:47 pm on January 8 after the US State Department approved her accreditation as a counsellor to India’s mission to the UN.
The ruling, however, left open the possibility that US prosecutors could bring a new indictment against Khobragade, and they “intend to proceed accordingly,” said James Margolin, a spokesman for Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.
The prosecution stand was outlined after the judge did not bar it from bringing new charges in future stemming from allegations she made a false statement to the US government in connection with visa application of her domestic help Sangeeta Richard. While the indictment was returned on January 9, Khobragade, who was Deputy Consul General in New York at the time of arrest, had the immunity till she departed from the US for India on the evening of January 9 and so the prosecutors cannot proceed with the current indictment, the judge said.
“Khobragade’s motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground of diplomatic immunity is granted. Khobragade’s conditions of bail are terminated, and her bond is exonerated. It is ordered that any open arrest warrants based on this indictment must be vacated,” Scheindlin said in the order capping months of diplomatic tensions between US and India.
Khobragade is a mother to two girls who are in the US now along with her husband. “On January 9, immediately following the return of the indictment, Khobragade appeared before the court through counsel and moved to dismiss the case. Because the court lacked jurisdiction over her at that time, and at the time the indictment was returned, the motion must be granted,” the judge said ordering that the motion and the case be closed.
Bharara’s office had argued that Khobragade was not immune from her December 12 arrest on charges of visa fraud and making false statements about the visa application of Richard. Bharara had said that the indictment should not be dismissed since Khobragade did not employ Richard in her capacity as Deputy Consul General and so does not enjoy immunity from prosecution for the “crimes” for which she was arrested in December. Khobragade’s lawyer Daniel Arshack welcomed the ruling and said any decision to re-indict her might well be viewed as an “aggressive and unnecessary act”.
Arshack said that “the law requires that any prosecution brought against an individual with diplomatic immunity must be dismissed. We’re pleased and heartened that the rule of law has prevailed.” (PTI)
