Indian diplomat’s daughter awarded compensation

Krittika Biswas (21), the daughter of an Indian diplomat formerly in the country’s New York consulate, won a significant legal victory from the City, which has agreed to a $225,000 settlement along with an acknowledgment that she was an Honour Student on February 8, 2011, when she was wrongfully arrested and held in jail for a day.

“We have vindicated Krittika's honour, Indian Diplomats’ honour, and India's honour in the U.S.,” said Ravi Batra, Ms. Biswas’ lawyer, in announcing the settlement.

Mr. Batra added, “the ethically compromised and arrogant [school] Principal Howard Kwait” had retaliated by suspending Ms. Biswas when learned that the charges against her had been dismissed, based on evidence of her innocence in terms of her Internet Service Provider differing from that of the ultimate culprit’s.

One day after this, using the sworn report of a forensic expert, “the actually guilty student was identified and he confessed,” said Mr. Batra, adding however that he was not arrested or criminally charged, ultimate proof of “foul discriminatory disparate treatment of Krittika despite her actual innocence,” said Mr. Batra.

This week U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in the Southern District of New York said in his order that the City of New York agreed to pay Ms. Biswas the settlement in “full satisfaction of all claims” and in turn Ms. Biswas “agrees to dismissal of all the claims,” against the defendants, according to case documents.

The controversy surrounding Ms. Biswas’ arrest found echoes last year in the arrest and strip search of Devyani Khobragade, former Deputy Consul General of India in New York, an event that led to a spiralling diplomatic crisis between Washington and New Delhi until the diplomat was whisked out of the U.S. in January this year after receiving full immunity from prosecution after reassignment to the United Nations.

Mr. Batra also said that Ms. Biswas joined him in thanking the Indian-American community, former Consul General Prabhu Dayal, former Indian Ambassador Meera Shanker and her erstwhile classmates and teachers whose “emotional and moral support,” helped her in her legal fight.