Manhattan, NY – An Indian woman whose arrest late last year prompted a diplomatic row between her home country and the United States has won the dismissal of a U.S. indictment charging her with visa fraud and making false statements to the government.
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Devyani Khobragade, who had been India’s deputy consul-general in New York, had diplomatic immunity when she moved to dismiss the indictment on January 9, and as a result was entitled to the case’s dismissal, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan ruled on Wednesday.
“The government may not proceed on an indictment obtained when Khobragade was immune from the jurisdiction of the court,” Scheindlin wrote. She also lifted Khobragade’s bail, and said open arrest warrants based on the indictment must be thrown out.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan had no immediate comment. Khobragade returned to India in January.
If this individual had diplomatic immunity, why was she arrested and prosecuted to begin with? Under international law, those with diplomatic immunity cannot be arrested or prosecuted. They can be detained briefly, until their identity is verified; then, they can be expelled from a country for their offenses. I think that the Manhattan DA and the NYCPD, erred big time in this case! I’m not saying that this individual is Snow White; however, the law is the law, and it must be respected by both sides.