India
Updated : Dec 21, 2014, 06:00 AM IST
After Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was stripped and cavity searched in the United States last year leading to a diplomatic row, India has now stripped her of her duties, putting her on a compulsive wait, a punishment for procuring dual passports for her minor children and unauthorised interviews to the media. She, however, on Saturday remained defiant, saying the issues on which she is facing the wrath of the ministry of external affairs didn't violate any rules. Exactly a year ago, Khobragade's strip and body cavity searches by US authorities on the grounds of visa fraud in New York, had led to a massive protest in India, freezing Indo-US relations leading to the resignation of then US ambassador Nancy Powell.
Sources in the ministry of external affairs confirmed that she was removed from her current post as director in the Development Partnership Division for not disclosing that her children held US passports and media interviews. "The reports are not incorrect. It is true that she has been placed on compulsory wait," the source said in a language couched in diplomacy. They also confirmed that Khobragade, a 1999 batch IFS officer from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, also now faces an administrative inquiry. Compulsory wait' implies that she remains in the service but without a specific job.
At a time, when India-US relations are revitalising after prime minister Modi's visit in September and president Barack Obama returning the visit in January, her TV interview a week ago was seen as an attempt by some elements to derail relations once more.
On whether she considered her decision to speak to the media a mistake, Khobragade said, "I have spoken under the ambit of conduct rules. The rules clearly stipulate that you have to mention that you are expressing your personal views, which I did," she said. Referring to conduct rules, she said the only condition was that you cannot take a negative view of government policies. "I didn't take any negative view,"" she said, indicating she was exploring options of appealing against the decision.
On the passport issue, she said that her "children were born in the US and are considered US citizens and as per both Indian as well as US laws. "Minor and dependent children are allowed dual citizenship. I had no other option but to take the American passport to take my children to the US," she added.
Khobragade has been posted in Germany, Italy and Pakistan before she was posted as deputy consul general in the New York mission in 2012. The mother of two daughters, she is married to an American citizen, Dr Aakash Singh Rathore, who is a research professor at University of Luiss, Rome, Italy. She has courted controversies since 2010, when the Supreme Court while adjudicating a special leave petition commented that she was given a posting of her choice by bending and modifying specific rules. She was also found owning a flat in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society. In the United States, she was arrested on charges of visa fraud and perjury under Title 28, on the complaint of her maid Sangeeta Richards.