Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade’s lawyer has sharply criticised US Attorney Preet Bharara for going public over prosecution-defence discussions on a possible plea deal, saying the latter’s remarks have violated agreed secrecy ground rules.
Taking exception to Bharara’s disclosure of the nature of consultations, defence lawyer Danial Arshack told a New York court: “We can only think that the violation of that agreement is a distressingly calculated one.”
There has been no word from the Indian side so far about any attempt to hammer out a plea deal, given that New Delhi has been demanding strongly and consistently that the US authorities should apologise and withdraw the whole case of visa fraud brought against Khobragade.
In any plea deal in the US, a defendant usually agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge in a bid to walk away with minimum punishment.
In his court filing opposing the defence request to put off the deadline for indictment in the case by one month, Bharara went public about the plea consultations, saying: “We have participated in hours of discussion (with the Khobragade team) in the hope of negotiating a plea that could be entered in court before January 13.”
“Indeed, as recently as Saturday, January 5, the (US) Government outlined reasonable parameters for a plea that could resolve the case, to which the defendant has not responded,” Bharara said in his filing.
Responding to Bharara’s filing, Khobragade’s counsel told the court that he was “surprised and distressed” by the US Attorney’s public characterisation of the discussions.
Contesting Bharara’s assertion that plea consultations could go on even after the indictment is file, Arshack took the stand that “the issuance of an indictment is a polarising event and one which cannot easily be undone”.