More action likely against Devyani Khobragade

New Delhi: Some form of disciplinary action has been taken by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) against diplomat Devyani Khobragade but officials on Friday declined to disclose exactly what action had been taken.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters on Friday that “a proceeding which has led to certain disciplinary action against her (Devyani Khobragade) has been completed” and that “she has been informed about it”.

The diplomat had recently been put on “compulsory wait” by the MEA. There were also indications that further disciplinary action against the senior diplomat may not be ruled out.

According to recent news agency reports, a departmental inquiry into the 40-year-old diplomat acquiring US passports for her children without informing the ministry had been concluded and had found that her action was “violative of conduct rules” leading to a disciplinary action.

These reports had also mentioned that in another inquiry into the issue of her talking to media without official permission, the MEA had put the 40-year-old diplomat on “compulsory wait”.

“She is bound by the rules of the service and our interaction with her will be in that ambit. She has herself repeated several times that she sees herself as functioning within the ambit of those rules.

That said, there was a proceeding which has led to certain disciplinary action related to her that has been completed.

She’s been informed about this and if there are any other things that have been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned in the ministry of external affairs, they will focus on this and will take appropriate steps in this regard.

At this stage, what has been completed is a process which started several months ago,” the MEA spokesperson said on Friday.

Ms Khobragade was arrested in 2013 in the US on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid and subsequently, released on a $250,000 bond.

The issue had escalated into a full-blown diplomatic spat between the US and India. Asked whether the government was pursuing the matter against the diplomat with the US, the MEA spokesperson said: “We will take it appropriately in the manner we deem fit and in a manner we deem it appropriate to proceed with this matter.”

Ms Khobragade was posted as a director-level officer in the development partnership division of the MEA in New Delhi after her return from the US in January.

According to recent news agency reports, Ms Khobragade had asserted that she has not done anything wrong be it taking dual passport for her children or talking to media.

Ruling out that she will resign after being put on “compulsory wait”, she had defended her action of taking the US passport for her two children, who were given diplomatic passports at the time of her posting to the US, saying under the service rules, minor children can have two passports and there was nothing wrong in that.

The diplomat had also justified talking to media and said it was very much under the ambit of her service rules which provided for the same as long as they were “personal views”.