New Delhi: An Australian court has ordered India’s former high commissioner to Canberra Navdeep Singh Suri to pay a former domestic staffer 136,000 Australian dollars or Rs 1.13 crore within 60 days as compensation for alleged unpaid wages and “demanding” working conditions. The 3 November order has elicited a sharp condemnation from India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
“We reject any locus standi of Australian authorities to adjudicate on matters concerning such India-based service staff of the High Commission,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a weekly press briefing Thursday.
He further said: “We are also concerned by the ex-parte court judgment. We are taking up the matter with Australian authorities. We would urge Australia to uphold its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, particularly in relation to diplomatic immunities and privileges.”
The MEA has also called on the former staffer to be repatriated to India, arguing that any grievance she may have must be redressed in India.
This is not the first time an Indian diplomat has been accused of underpaying staff. In December 2013, Devyani Khobragade, then acting consul general of the Indian Consulate in New York, was arrested after she was accused of lying on the visa application form of her domestic help, Sangeetha Richard, by paying her less than the stipulated wages. Khobragade’s arrest and strip search, thereafter, created a furore in India. She was later released on bail.
‘False representations’
The MEA also rubbished accusations made by the employee, Seema Sherghill, as “false representations”.
“Her conduct and false representations give rise to suspicions that all this has been motivated by her desire to permanently stay in Australia, and in which she seems to have succeeded,” said Bagchi.
Sherghill worked for the former high commissioner from 2015 to 2016 as a cook and housekeeper, according to a report by ABC.
She alleged that she worked seven days a week, for 17.5 hours per day, and was initially paid around $7.80 per day until her rate was increased to $9 per day after a complaint, the report added.
According to the MEA spokesperson, Sherghill “willfully deserted” her post in May 2016, a day before her scheduled return to India.
She had an official passport and an Australian diplomatic visa.
“Since then, we have repeatedly requested Australian authorities to locate and repatriate her to India,” said the MEA.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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