Devyani Khobragade's father slams U.S for re-indicting the Indian diplomat

Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade's father Uttam Khobragade, hit at U.S. on Saturday after a grand jury in New York re-indicted her, two days after charges of visa fraud were dismissed by the latter as she had diplomatic immunity back then.

The new indictment effectively returns the case to where it was before Wednesday's dismissal.

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled on Wednesday that Khobragade, who was India's deputy consul-general in New York, had diplomatic immunity when she sought on January 9 to dismiss the indictment, and thus could not be prosecuted for alleged underpayment of her nanny.

Uttam Khobragade said the US did not show respect towards the decision of its own court.

"It's nothing but it is an attack on the sovereignty of India. Earlier also U.S. lawyer, Daniel Arshack had said if they she would be re-indicted then it is nothing but an act of aggression. Now, it seems that the U.S. wanted to commit the act of aggression against India and they do not want to respect the sentiment of their own courts. When their own court had dismissed the charges how could the U.S. prosecutors re-indict her? This is a mockery of judicial process so the Indian government should take stern steps against it," said Khobragade.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked the U.S. to come clean on the matter.

"This is crazy. I think the U.S. government must clear the air about this maddening business of dismissal of the case and then again re-indictment of the case, looks like someone is interested to take a personal revenge on Mrs. Khobragade. This is not done. This is not fair at least in the bilateral relations, and the U.S. government must come out very clearly what they want as far as relations with India are concerned," said BJP leader, Tarun Vijay.

On Friday, Bharara, a fierce critic of the Indian diplomat in New York, oversaw the filing of a fresh indictment against Devyani Khobragade a day after a district judge had dismissed the case against her. The court had ruled that she had diplomatic immunity when she was charged earlier.

The ruling had given Bharara leeway to re-indict her by indicating the immunity was good only as long as she was assigned to the UN in New York, and the prosecutors were free to charge her anew since she had moved on from that window.