Extend indictment deadline: Devyani Khobragarde

She said that the pressure of the impending deadline was interfering with the ability to have meaningful discussions on the issue

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has requested a court here to extend the deadline for charging her in a visa fraud case, saying the "pressure of the impending" deadline is interfering with the ability of the parties to have meaningful discussions on the issue.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara's office is required to file an indictment in the case within 30 days of Khobragade's arrest and the deadline for that is January 13.

However, in a request submitted late yesterday with Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Khobragade's counsel sought postponement of the preliminary hearing date, currently scheduled for January 13 and extension of the indictment deadline by 30 days "to and including February 12, 2014".

"Significant communications have been had between the prosecution and the defense and amongst other government officials and it is our strong view that the pressure of the impending deadline is counterproductive to continued communications," Khobragade's counsel Daniel Arshack said in the request.

He later told PTI that Khobragade, 39, is seeking extension of the indictment deadline, adding that a defendant can seek an extension.

"The deadline is designed to protect defendants from prosecutors who might drag out proceedings...In this case however, an indictment would further polarise the litigants. We would like to avoid that," Arshack said.

The lawyer told the court that he has conferred with the prosecution concerning extending the deadline and has been informed that the prosecution will not seek an extension of the deadline.

"We therefore, wish to inform the court that we waive the 30 day time limit set by the court on December 12, 2013 because we believe that the time limit is interfering with the parties ability to continue to have meaningful discussions," Arshack said in his request to the judge

"...We believe that making such a request under these circumstances constitutes good cause and is in 'the public interest' since it is in the interest of justice, not to mention judicial economy, to promote and encourage the very sort of discussions which have taken place to date," he said.

Khobragade, the deputy Counsel General at the Indian Consulate here was arrested on December 12 last year and was presented before the court following her arrest on a criminal complaint. The case was adjourned to January 13, 2014 for indictment or preliminary hearing.

Sources had last week said the US is proceeding with the prosecution of Khobragade and has no intention to withdraw the case of visa fraud against her.