Devyani Khobragade in Mumbai. (TOI file photo by Uma Kadam)

Devyani Khobragade with her father Uttam Khobragade. (TOI file photo by Uma Kadam)

Devyani Khobragade at South Block, New Delhi. (TOI file photo by Mohammed Ilyas)

NEW DELHI: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade ’s decision to reveal what she experienced after her arrest for alleged visa fraud in the US appears to be a well-timed move to revive popular and political attention to the case by the new NDA government.Breaking her silence for the first time since she was brought back to India after her diplomatic immunity was established, Khobragade repeated the allegations that she had been blackmailed by her former maid Sangeeta Richards . In an interview to Times Now, she said, “Things haven't moved as such, but I am hopeful that specially this Government will take it up positively because this is not just my matter, it's about having a special judicial process against a diplomat.”MEA sources said Khobragade had not taken permission before giving the interview, though there are caveats in the service rules that she could use to justify it. Khobragade’s interview comes on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to the US, while both countries are trying to get beyond the unpleasant episode. Sources said her reason for coming out at this point may be to sensitize the new government about her personal case.The Khobragade case severely strained diplomatic relations between the US and India, even being partly responsible for the recall of previous US ambassador Nancy Powell. In the aftermath of the incident, the issues thrown up were divided into three strands — those relating to the American School, questions regarding foreign service officers taking domestic help on foreign postings, and Khobragade’s personal trauma.India also worked on achieving parity between the two countries on diplomatic rights and privileges. The American School has cleaned up its act after it was slammed for circumventing employment rules. Meanwhile, the MEA is in the process of cleaning up its own processes of allowing domestic help to travel with IFS officers on foreign postings, particularly to the US and Europe.There are good reasons for restricting the privilege to few senior people, but bureaucrats are resisting change.Khobragade was not particularly complimentary to her colleagues in the IFS. In her interview, she indicated her colleagues were using the case to get ahead. “You know how competitive IFS is. In any incident like this ... can be used by people to set you back by making insinuations and connotations about it.”On the issue of Khobragade’s personal case (she has been barred from the US), sources said she wants the government to push Washington to have the charges against her dismissed. In March, while one set of charges against her were indeed dismissed, the US attorney’s office slammed a fresh set of charges against a couple of days later.Indian officials said the US state department has referred the case to the US justice department which, in turn, has referred it to US attorney Preet Bharara’s office. The general conclusion is that Bharara would not be an easy man to persuade. Besides, Bharara himself has been reportedly upset at the Indian media and government campaign against him.Recounting the case to the Harvard Law School recently, Bharara said, "(It was) not the crime of the century but a serious crime nonetheless, that is why the state department opened the case, that is why the state department investigated it. That is why career agents in the state department asked career prosecutors in my office to approve criminal charges. That case basically caused an international incident," he said.Maintaining her innocence, Khobragade said, “I never did anything unlawful. All the information on the visa form was correct. I was helping my house-help to fill up the form. The $4,500 that was mentioned against me was the salary I earned and not her salary. I treated her like a part of my family; never imagined her doing something like that. She had access to everything-the house, the kids; I trusted her with everything."