US court indicts Devyani Khobragade in visa fraud case, orders to leave the country

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has been indicted in a visa fraud case by a US court. However, the prosecuters told the court that she cannot be tried due to the diplomatic immunity. As per reports, the court has asked the diplomat to leave the United States. This could be seen as a resolution of the diplomatic row between India and the US.

Devyani Khobragade was charged by a federal grand jury in Manhattan with visa fraud and making false statements in a case that has triggered an outcry in India. She's accused of fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her New York City housekeeper.

The indictment said Khobragade had made or multiple false representations to US authorities, or caused them to be made, to obtain a visa for a personal domestic worker. She planned to bring to worker the United States in September 2012 when she worked at the Consulate General of India in New York, according to the indictment.

In a letter to the judge, prosecutors said there was no need for an arraignment because Khobragade had "very recently" been given diplomatic immunity status and left the United States on Thursday.

The letter said the charges will remain pending until she can be brought to court to face them, either through a waiver of immunity or her return to the US without immunity status.

"We will alert the court promptly if we learn that the defendant returns to the United States in a non-immune capacity, at which time the government will proceed to prosecute this case and prove the charges in the indictment,'' the letter from the office of US attorney Preet Bharara said.

Khobragade's attorney Daniel Arshack said in a statement on Thursday that Devyani Khobragade was at her New York City apartment. Shortly after he issued the statement, a spokesman for federal prosecutors said the State Department had told prosecutors that it had asked her to leave the country on Thursday afternoon.

Khobragade, 39, India's deputy consul general in New York, has maintained her innocence to accusations that she claimed to pay her Indian maid $4,500 per month but actually gave her far less than the US minimum wage. Her arrest last month sparked outrage in India after revelations that she was strip-searched and thrown in a cell with other criminal defendants before being released on $250,000 bail.

(With inputs from AP)

Salman Khan begin Anees Bazmees NO ENTRY MEIN ENTRY

Salman Khan has allocated dates for the shooting of NO ENTRY MEIN ENTRY and the film would go on floors very soon. This also brings to end the speculations that have been making the rounds for over a year around the film's fate.

"Salman Khan would be wrapping up the shoot of KICK by then and immediately step into NO ENTRY MEIN ENTRY. He is mighty charged about the film and needless to say, he has a much bigger role to play this time around when compared to the first in the series. The film would be aiming for a release by middle of next year," informs our source.

Though Salman had agreed in principle to do the film, there were murmurs around when would it eventually go on-floors. Though Anil Kapoor had confirmed that in 2014 he would be shooting for the film, one waited to hear a final word on the movement of this Anees Bazmee directed affair.

"Other than Salman and Anil, Fardeen is returning with the sequel. The film would also mark his comeback to the big screen half a decade after DULHA MIL GAYA (2010)," the source adds.

When contacted, Anees Bazmee - who is currently shooting WELCOME BACK with John Abraham - confirmed the developments. "Yes, the film is definitely going on-floors this Summer. The dates are in place and each of the three leads - Salman, Anil and Fardeen would be returning with the sequel," he said.

On being questioned around the uncertainty surrounding the film, Bazmee said, "There is no ambiguity whatsoever. We are on schedule."