There may be more trouble in store for embattled Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who is facing visa fraud charges in the U.S.
The report of the inquiry commission probing the Adarsh Society scam has found that Ms. Khobragade was actually ineligible to purchase the flat in the building that she owns.
The diplomat’s father, retired IAS officer Uttam Khobragade, had filled an application on her behalf. However, the report said, she already owned another flat in the suburb of Oshiwara, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai municipal corporation, thereby violating the eligibility criteria.
Neither Devyani nor her father, the report said, disclosed to the Commission the source of the money they spent to buy the flat in Adarsh.
When contacted, Mr. Khobragade said: “When we applied for membership to Adarsh Society, we had disclosed that Devyani had a flat in Oshiwara. We said we would sell that flat if she got membership in Adarsh. In fact the first payment for the Adarsh flat was made from the sale proceeds of the Oshiwara flat.”
Ms. Khobragade is among the 25 flat owners, out of the total 103, found ineligible by the Inquiry Commission.
Three family members of the former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, were also found ineligible on the same grounds. They include his mother-in-law Bhagwati Sharma, sister-in-law Seema Sharma and his father-in-law Madanlal Sharma’s brother.
