Indian Diplomat Devyani Khobragade Indicted But Allowed To Leave USA Friday Jan 10,2014

Indo-U.S. stalemate has come to an end with the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was at the centre of the storm, having left for India, said a Jan 10,2014 Friday morning statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Officially, she has been posted to the MEA headquarters in New Delhi. 

The diplomat left a day after the U.S. State Department gave her an amended visa due to her transfer last month from the Indian Consulate in New York to the Indian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in the same city. The U.S. had justified the arrest and search of Dr. Khobragarde on December 12, 2013 and contended that she cannot escape prosecution because a consular officer does not enjoy full immunity. 

According to the MEA, the U.S. made the same request on Thursday and India rejected it again. 

Devyani Khobragade (39), formerly India’s Deputy Consul General, has been indicted ahead of her preliminary hearing date, on charges of visa fraud and for making false statements, in the criminal case brought against her by the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Her indictment on Jan 09,2014 Thursday afternoon prior to the January 13 hearing date came close on the heels of what appeared to be confusion over whether she had left the U.S. after being granted full diplomatic immunity in her new role at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.