NEW DELHI: It’s not only Devyani Khobragade, who has been put on compulsory leave, but another Indian diplomat, who also had a maid abuse case slapped against her while posted in the US, is also cooling her heels in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
A 1999 batch IFS officer, Khobragade, who was arrested in the US in a visa fraud case and became the reason for a diplomatic fight between India and the US, has been stripped of her post after a vigilance inquiry found that she had violated conduct rules for applying for US passports for her children without informing the MEA.
The action against Khobragade is based on the vigilance inquiry into her children’s passport application. But, besides there is another ongoing inquiry against the 40-year-old for talking to media without permission.
They were especially miffed with her appeal to the Prime Minister’s Office for a political resolution of her case. After returning from the US, she had been posted as Director in the Development Partnership Administration Department.Reacting to the news, Khobragade told reporters that she had not violated any service rules. She also ruled out any question of resigning.
The action against Khobragade is also an indication of the Centre’s resolve not to let any bad news hover over the visit of US President Barack Obama for the Republic Day celebrations.
But she is the second diplomat, who got into a maid row in the US and is currently on “compulsory wait”.
Her senior Neena Malhotra had to leave the US pursued by a New York court case filed by her former maid, just before her posting at the Indian Consulate in New York, had come to an end in 2010. It is learnt that Malhotra has not been given any new responsibility after she did not take up her allotted post on the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the ministry’s in-house think tank.
Malhotra had been posted to the ICWA after her candidature for deputation for Joint Secretary post in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) was rejected by the Civil Service Panel. Though Malhotra had been nominated by the ministry for the MOIA post, a post long held by IAS officers, she was not found suitable.
Since her return to India from overseas posting, Malhotra did not have an easy time.
She was posted in the Consular, Passport and Visa section, but was transferred to the Archives and Records Management section triggered by her refusal to give visa to the gay partner of a US diplomat.