NEW YORK: A lawyer for Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has filed a petition before a US judge in New York, seeking the dismissal of immigration and employment charges against her.
The petition was filed by the lawyer of Khobragade, Daniel Arshack, asking the Manhattan federal court to dismiss charges and arrest warrants against his client as she was protected by diplomatic immunity since she was charged last month.
The US Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which indicted Khobragade last week, declined to comment on the filing.
The 39-year-old Devyani Khobragade returned India on Friday from the US after a deal in which she was indicted in New York on charges of visa fraud and making false statements but allowed to leave because of diplomatic immunity.
Khobragade, who was deputy consul-general in New York‚ was arrested on December 12 and charged with one count of visa fraud and another of making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper.
Her arrest and strip-search spurred outrage in India as New Delhi took a series of retaliatory measures against the United States including removing security barriers outside the US embassy in the capital and asking Washington to withdraw a diplomat from its embassy.
