Suit against Indian diplomat in NY - will he ask for diplomatic immunity now?

Prabhu Dayal, the Indian Consul General in New York, has been accused of treating a former domestic help as a slave and making sexual advances, charges rejected by him as "complete nonsense".

Santosh Bhardwaj, Dayal's former maid, has filed a forced labour-suit against him for making her work for long hours everyday at USD 300 a month, confiscating her passport and letting her sleep in a storage closet. She has also alleged him of making sexual advances reports Press Trust of India.

"I filed the complaint because I want to be paid for all the labour I provided and for all the injustice I suffered - and I want my passport returned," Bhardwaj (45), the mother of four children, said.

"The Dayals did not treat me fairly," she said in a statement issued by the Legal Aid Society, which is representing her.

Dayal, however, has rubbished the charges against him saying "Complete nonsense".

Recently, India was asked to waive immunity or recall a senior envoy from the UK, where he was accused of wife-beating.

Now the question would arise, will Dayal also ask for diplomatic immunity or should diplomatic immunity be provided to Dayal against whom labour suit is pending.

Diplomat immunity is not a license to do anything wrong. It is true, Indian law takes long to catch the wrong doers (like Manu Sharma who killed Jessica Lal). But it is not so in America. The legal system is better placed in the US. Let us not forget that President Bush daughter was arrested. Even in the most recent case, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was also arrested.

Indian diplomats who are the front face of the government and the country as a whole are many a times being caught on wrong foot. What is the reputation that they are carrying for themselves as well as for the country?

[A post by IDSTPR http://www.idstonline.com]