Devyani Khobragade Incident : A Legal Analysis in the Light of International Law

Abstract

Devyani Khobragade is serving as an officer in the Indian Foreign Service. She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1999.[1]She has been also posted in Germany, Italy and Pakistan.[2]

In 2012, she was posted as Deputy Consul General to the Consulate General of India in New York . She handled women's affairs as well as political and economic issues. While she was serving as an Indian Deputy Consul General in New York, she was arrested by US law enforcement agencies for making false statements on a visa application for her housekeeper. The question that led to a major diplomatic standoff between India and the United States whether according to international law especially Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relation of 1961, she should have got the immunities from the judicial proceedings or not that was brought against her. [3]

After a long Diplomatic battle between India and Us government on January 20, 2014 she was taken back to India and posted to New Delhi as director of the Development Partnership Administration (DPA), an agency formed in 2013 at the Ministry of External Affairs to handle India’s projects overseas.[4]

[1] Gowen, Annie (20 December 2013). "Who is Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat at the center of the firestorm?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 January 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-devyani-khobragade-advocated-for-womens-rights-but-underpaid-her-nanny/2013/12/20/13e23688-69a2-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html

[2] "10 things about IFS officer Devyani Khobragade: Her family, passion and favourite Hollywood actor". babus of india. December 14, 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014. http://www.babusofindia.com/2013/12/10-things-about-ifs-officer-devyani.html

[3] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Who-is-Devyani-Khobragade/articleshow/27659238.cms?referral=PM,Last  accessed on 29.06.2014

[4] Roy, Shubhajit (January 20, 2014). "Devyani likely to head MEA’s overseas projects department". Indian Express. Retrieved January 20, 2014. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/devyani-likely-to-head-meas-overseas-projects-department/