Devyani Khobragade case: US launches 'inter-agency review'

India's tough stand against the arrest of its diplomat Devyani Khobragade has forced the United States of America to initiate an 'inter-agency review' to look into lapses. The department being reviewed include National Security Council of the White House, the State Department and the Justice Department.

Also Read: Devyani's paperwork under review: US

In a tacit acknowledgement of the fact that there was a 'judgmental error' in handling this case, sources said the inter-agency team led by the State Department is 'working 24X7' to get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Now that the matter has landed up in the judiciary, a lot depends on the judges too - for which the Department of Justice and the Southern District of New York is being actively engaged.

It is believed that the US Department of Defense has expressed its displeasure over the manner in which the entire issue was handled.

Meanwhile, Devyani's father has said that he is satisfied with India's tough action against the US. "The government of India is taking steps in the right direction, they are quite organised and they are keen that justice needs to be done to Devyani. I am absolutely satisfied with the way the government is approaching this. The truth should prevail and the simple truth is that the charges are false and they should be dropped," her father said.

A 1999-batch IFS officer, Devyani, India's Deputy Consul General in New York, was arrested on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid Sangeeta Richard. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond.

The 39-year-old diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats among other steps.

The strong Indian reaction came as a "shock and disbelief" in the US, especially to those who have anything to do with the country's foreign policy, as they had never expected such a strong retaliatory measure from New Delhi.

Top officials of the Obama Administration - in particular those in the State Department, Department of Justice and White House - took it simply a matter of "enforcing" law of the land, which was exploited by Sangeeta to immigrate to the US.

(With additional inputs from PTI)