Fresh Trouble For Khobragade As Daughters Hold Us, India Passports

[timmy]

While the United States has cleared Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade of the charges against her, there is trouble brewing for her back home. The Indian government has found that Khobragade's two daughters had American passports as well as Indian diplomatic passports.

Holding dual citizenship is a crime under the Indian law. Khobragade's daughters are American citizens. The MEA has said that it is investigating as to how Khobragade acquired passports for her daughters.

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Khobragade's father Uttam Khobragade has said that his granddaughters had to get US passports made to be able to fly out of US.

This comes even as a US court dismissed Khobragade's indictment in a visa fraud case. The court has ruled in favour of Khobragade saying she had full diplomatic immunity when the indictment was returned against her on January 9.

Reacting to the order, public prosecutor Preet Bharara's office said, "As the court indicated in its decision that as Devyani Khobragade has conceded, there is currently no bar to a new indictment against her for her alleged criminal conduct, and we intend to proceed accordingly."

Khobragade was arrested on the charges that she lied on a visa application for her domestic help. Khobragade's strip search and subsequent arrest had triggred diplomatic tension between India and USA.

In a 14-page order, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin said it is "undisputed" that Khobragade acquired full diplomatic immunity from the State Department at 5:47 PM on January 8. The judge said Khobragade did not lose that immunity until her departure for India on January 9. "Even if Khobragade had no immunity at the time of her arrest and has none now, her acquisition of immunity during the pendency of proceedings mandates dismissal," the judge said.

The judge added that on January 9, immediately following the return of the indictment, Khobragade had appeared before the court and appealed for dismissal of 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 order said. "Khobragade's motion to dismiss the Indictment on the ground of diplormtic 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," the judge said.

The judge said Khobragade served as a consular officer in the US from October 26, 2012 through January 8, 2014, a position that "cloaked her with consular immunity" as per the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Khobragade contended that she had additionally obtained diplomatic immunity on August 26, 2013 by virtue of her appointment as a Special Advisor to the United Nations, and such immunity continued through at least December 31, 2013