'Concerned By Judgement': India On Australian Court's Ruling Against Ex-Envoy For Mistreating House Help

MEA spokesperson said that the Indian embassy "rejects any locus standi of Australian authorities to adjudicate on matters concerning such India-based Service Staff of the High Commission."

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi

Source : PTI

New Delhi: India rejected the Australian court's ruling against its former diplomat in connection with a domestic help case, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the Indian embassy "rejects any locus standi of Australian authorities to adjudicate on matters concerning such India-based Service Staff of the High Commission." "Any grievance that she may have has to be suitably redressed only in India."

The Australian Federal Court on November 5 ordered India's former high commissioner to Australia Navdeep Suri Singh to pay more than $136,000 to a former domestic employee in compensation for unpaid wages and unfair working conditions, ABC News reported.

Bagchi said that the domestic employee, identified as Seema Sherghill, willfully deserted her post in May 2016, a day before her scheduled return to India.

"She was holding an Official Passport and Australian Diplomatic Visa. Since then, we have repeatedly requested Australian authorities to locate and repatriate her to India," he said.

He further stated that Sherghill's "conduct and false representations" raise suspicions that her intentions were motivated by her desire to permanently stay in Australia, and "in which she seems to have succeeded."

Sherghill had told the court that she worked seven days a week, laboring for 17.5 hours per day. Her responsibilities encompassed house cleaning, meal preparation, garden maintenance, and she was rarely permitted to leave the house, except for walking Suri's dog, according to ABC News.

She claimed that initially, she received a meager wage equivalent to about $7.80 per day, which was later increased to $9 per day after she complained.

She received only around $3,400 for her 13 months of work, Sherghill told the court.

Expressing concern over the judgment, Bagchi said, "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."