New Indian envoy seeks withdrawal of charges against Devyani Khobragade

Khobragade was accredited as an “Advisor to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations” by the UN w.e.f. 26th August 2013 and her status as an Advisor was valid until December 31, 2013.

With the latest revelation, it has emerged that Khobragade enjoyed full diplomatic immunity including from personal arrest and detention on December 12 when she was taken into custody by the US authorities. 

Leading Indian-American lawyer Ravi Batra said Khobragade can sue the US for arresting her in violation of Vienna Convention as she had the diplomatic immunity in her capacity of being a member of the Indian delegation to the UN. 

“If Devyani was in fact a UN-credentialed ‘Advisor' to Permanent Mission of India then she had full immunity from arrest and can file a plausible federal case of an unconstitutional false arrest against the US,” Batra said.