Judge dismisses charges for Indian ‘Nannygate’ diplomat

A Manhattan federal judge Wednesday dismissed an indictment against an Indian diplomat who was notoriously booted from the United States last year after being enmeshed in a Nannygate scandal — but the ruling leaves the door wide open to her facing new criminal charges.

Although Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed a January indictment against Devyani Khobragade that charged her with visa fraud and making false statements, the judge’s ruling certainly isn’t a welcome back to the US for a diplomat whose New York arrest and strip search spurred an international flap.

Scheindlin’s ruling still allows Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara to bring a new indictment against the diplomat. “There is currently no bar to a new indictment against [Khobragade] for her alleged criminal conduct, and we intend to proceed accordingly,” said Bharara spokesman James Margolin in a statement.

Asked if Bharara plans to indict Khobragade again, Margolin bluntly said, “We’ll leave it to you to interpret the statement.”

Khobragade, who had been India’s deputy consul-general in New York, had diplomatic immunity when she moved to dismiss the indictment on Jan. 9, and as a result was entitled to the case’s dismissal, Scheindlin said.

“The government may not proceed on an indictment obtained when Khobragade was immune from the jurisdiction of the court,” Scheindlin wrote.

The judge also lifted Khobragade’s bail, and said open arrest warrants based on the indictment must be thrown out – although she noted the ruling doesn’t prohibit future prosecution.

“Dr. Khobragade is pleased that the rule of law has prevailed, and she looks forward to continuing to serve her country,” said the diplomat’s lawyer Daniel Arshack, adding that any attempt to re-indict his client “might well be viewed as an aggressive and unnecessary act.”

Khobragade, 39, jetted out of New York in January after being granted diplomatic immunity just as an indictment was announced charging her with visa fraud and making false statements. She complied with a Department of State order to leave the US, and the Indian government then asked Washington to withdraw a diplomat from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

After flying back to India, Khobragade griped that she wants to return to America because she’s suffering “immense stress” at being separated from her husband and two daughters, ages 7 and 4, who all remain in the United States.

Khobragade’s hubby, Aakash Singh Rathore, is a New York-born US citizen who teaches philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Arshack said Khobragade desperately wants to return to the US and believes she can legally. However, “politically” she can’t because she was asked by the State Department to leave the county, he added.

The women’s-rights champion, who served as deputy consul general for political, economic, commercial and women’s affairs, is accused of lying on official documents that claimed she was paying her female housekeeper $4,500 a month.

In reality, the feds say Khobragade forced Indian national Sangeeta Richard to work 100 or more hours a week, with no day off, for just $573 a month — or as little as $1.22 an hour.