Indian officials said Saturday that they had transferred a diplomat who is facing charges in the United States to a job with India’s United Nations delegation, a position that could protect her from allegations that she was underpaying a housekeeper.
The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, 39, the deputy consul general in New York, has been at the center of a heated battle between the United States and India since she was accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for the housekeeper. Indian officials have complained about what they consider humiliating treatment after Ms. Khobragade was arrested as she left her daughter at school and later strip-searched by the authorities.
The Indian ambassador to the United Nations, Asoke Mukerji, wrote to Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, telling him of Ms. Khobragade’s transfer.
Ms. Khobragade was arrested Dec. 12 and released on $250,000 bail. She has been charged with visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper, who is also Indian. Ms. Khobragade’s lawyer, Daniel N. Arshack, has called the charges “false and baseless” and has said she would plead not guilty.
A position with the United Nations would afford Ms. Khobragade more diplomatic protection from prosecution in the United States, although it was unclear whether the State Department would approve her transfer.
American officials have vigorously defended their handling of the matter amid criticism from Indian politicians and in India’s news media. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday that Ms. Khobragade “clearly tried to evade U.S. law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers.”
He also said Ms. Khobragade had been discreetly detained and afforded courtesies “beyond” those accorded United States citizens. He said that although she had been “fully searched,” the search had done by a female deputy marshal in a private setting, the standard procedure.
Mr. Bharara said India’s focus on Ms. Khobragade’s plight obscured the treatment of the alleged victim in the case. Prosecutors say that the diplomat forced the housekeeper to work longer hours than agreed to and that she was paid far less than the minimum wage.
Mr. Mukerji, the ambassador, said Ms. Khobragade’s new position would give her protection from arrest.
“We have welcomed her into our team here at the U.N.,” he said. “As soon as she is accredited, we hope she will be able to discharge her responsibilities.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 21, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of the Indian ambassador to the United Nations. He is Asoke Mukerji, not Mukherji. The earlier version also misrepresented the status of Ms. Khobragade’s reaction to the charges. Her lawyer has said she will plead not guilty; she has not done so yet.
Ms.
Khobragade has been at the center of a heated battle between the United
States and India since she was accused of submitting false documents to
obtain a work visa for a housekeeper.
The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, 39, the deputy consul general in New York, has been at the center of a heated battle between the United States and India since she was accused of submitting false documents to obtain a work visa for the housekeeper. Indian officials have complained about what they consider humiliating treatment after Ms. Khobragade was arrested as she left her daughter at school and later strip-searched by the authorities.
The Indian ambassador to the United Nations, Asoke Mukerji, wrote to Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, telling him of Ms. Khobragade’s transfer.
Ms. Khobragade was arrested Dec. 12 and released on $250,000 bail. She has been charged with visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper, who is also Indian. Ms. Khobragade’s lawyer, Daniel N. Arshack, has called the charges “false and baseless” and has said she would plead not guilty.
A position with the United Nations would afford Ms. Khobragade more diplomatic protection from prosecution in the United States, although it was unclear whether the State Department would approve her transfer.
Demonstrators outside the Indian Consulate in New York on Friday after a diplomat was accused of underpaying a housekeeper.
American officials have vigorously defended their handling of the matter amid criticism from Indian politicians and in India’s news media. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday that Ms. Khobragade “clearly tried to evade U.S. law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers.”
He also said Ms. Khobragade had been discreetly detained and afforded courtesies “beyond” those accorded United States citizens. He said that although she had been “fully searched,” the search had done by a female deputy marshal in a private setting, the standard procedure.
Mr. Bharara said India’s focus on Ms. Khobragade’s plight obscured the treatment of the alleged victim in the case. Prosecutors say that the diplomat forced the housekeeper to work longer hours than agreed to and that she was paid far less than the minimum wage.
Mr. Mukerji, the ambassador, said Ms. Khobragade’s new position would give her protection from arrest.
“We have welcomed her into our team here at the U.N.,” he said. “As soon as she is accredited, we hope she will be able to discharge her responsibilities.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 21, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of the Indian ambassador to the United Nations. He is Asoke Mukerji, not Mukherji. The earlier version also misrepresented the status of Ms. Khobragade’s reaction to the charges. Her lawyer has said she will plead not guilty; she has not done so yet.
