Charges against Indian diplomat dropped

An Indian diplomat charged in New York with visa fraud and making false statements about a domestic worker she employed won dismissal of a federal indictment Wednesday, ending a chapter in a dispute that frayed U.S.-India relations after the diplomat was arrested and strip-searched.

Devyani Khobragade could not be prosecuted because she had diplomatic immunity when she sought on Jan. 9 to dismiss the indictment – which charged her with fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her housekeeper and lying about the maid's pay – U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan ruled on Wednesday.

But the ruling left open the possibility that prosecutors could bring a new indictment against her. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan said it intends "to proceed accordingly."

Khobragade's attorney, Daniel Arshack, said Wednesday that his client feels the rule of law has prevailed.

Khobragade's arrest and a subsequent strip-search provoked an outcry in India, setting off reprisals against American diplomats and the removal of some security barriers near the U.S. embassy there.

It also led to the postponement of trips by U.S. officials and business executives to India, with which Washington was working to strengthen ties.

After being indicted, Khobragade complied with a State Department order to leave the United States. The Indian government then asked Washington to withdraw a diplomat from its embassy in New Delhi, and the U.S. complied.

Prosecutors accused Khobragade of making Sangeeta Richard, her housekeeper and nanny, work 100-hour weeks at a salary of just over $1 an hour, far below the legal minimum U.S. wage of $7.25 an hour.

They argued that the indictment should stand because Khobragade did not have diplomatic immunity either when she was arrested, or now given that she has left the country.

Scheindlin said, however, that Khobragade had immunity on Jan. 9 when the indictment was issued, having the day before been named a counselor to India's mission to the United Nations.

"Even if Khobragade had no immunity at the time of her arrest and has none now, her acquisition of immunity during the pendency of proceedings mandates dismissal," Scheindlin wrote in her ruling. "The government may not proceed on an indictment obtained when Khobragade was immune from the jurisdiction of the court."

Scheindlin also lifted Khobragade's bail and said open arrest warrants based on the indictment must be thrown out.

Khobragade, 39 at the time of her arrest on Dec. 12, is now working for India's foreign affairs ministry in Delhi, having left the U.S. in January, according to her lawyer Arshack.

The U.S. State Department was not immediately available for comment.

Arshack welcomed the judge's decision.

"The law requires that any prosecution brought against an individual with diplomatic immunity must be dismissed," he said. "We're pleased and heartened that the rule of law has prevailed."

Al Jazeera and wire services