New Delhi: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was arrested for alleged visa fraud in the United States of America, has now been given accreditation by the United Nations. She has also been exempted from personal appearance in the case in the US.
Devyani was moved to India's Permanent Mission at the United Nations to allow her greater diplomatic immunity from the US law. However, Devyani will still have to face the due process, since she was charged when she was still a Deputy Consul.
"Receiving diplomatic immunity does not nullify any previously existing criminal charges. Those remain on the books. Nor does obtaining diplomatic immunity protect the diplomat from prosecution indefinitely. It relates to the status of a diplomat's current status for the length of the time of that status," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said earlier.
Diplomatic immunity means, among other things, that a foreign diplomat is not subject to criminal jurisdiction in the United States for the time they are a diplomat, for the time they have that immunity, she said.
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Devyani was arrested by the New York police on the charges of visa fraud. Devyani was taken into custody as she was dropping her daughter to school before being released on a $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.
She could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted.
Meanwhile, US Embassy has sought extension of the deadline to file visa and other key details of people employed by it and by its officers in India.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment