US SPECIAL/HORROR STORY
Attorney suggests ‘key to the city’ as apology
Attorney Ravi Batra asked the New York City authorities to settle Krittika Biswas’s claim honorably
without letting the matter to go the courts.
‘Krittika's rights under the Vienna Convention were
denied, while India's rights of access and communication
to one of its citizens were also not given. I don't need
diplomatic immunity to fight my case. I do think that there
is some unresolved confusion that all governments have a
need to clarify the rules of engagement, because
reciprocity is the mother of all rights. While I agree with
the school in not arresting the kid that was actually guilty
of sending these criminal e-mails, that stands in stark
contrast to how they treated an Indian kid, who despite
her innocence, was put through the "ringer" in the
Twilight Zone.’
— Ravi Batra,
“They have hurt this young lady and
embarrassed our city and nation.”
Batra pointed out the critical issue of
diplomatic immunity in the case of
Krittika Biswas’s arrest.
“I must mention the importance of diplo-
matic immunity. Recently, no less than
President Barack Obama asked Pakistan to
grant diplomatic immunity to a CIA con-
tractor Raymond Davis, who had shot two
Pakistanis,” Batra pointed out.
— George Joseph
Diplomat’s daughter takes on
New York City over wrongful arrest
;Page A7
the interrogation, the notice stated.
Police Officer Jane Doe Maldanado arrested Biswas, took
her to the 107th Precinct and placed her in a detention cell.
Her claim for diplomatic immunity was turned down as the
police allegedly told her that only the diplomat himself has
immunity, not family members.
At the precinct, Krittika asserts she was denied permission to use the bathroom though her handcuffs were finally loosened. Biswas was again handcuffed and taken to the
Queens Central Booking where she was confined from
approximately 3:45 pm to approximately 2:30 pm the next
day, February 9.
Krittika’s parents and consulate officials, unable to trace
her, approached Batra who found out about a Note Verbale
issued to the Department of State. Batra then met with
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and presented
him with the Note Verbale and argued for Krittika’s innocence.
Brown dismissed the criminal charges against Krittika
and expunged the arrest from her record for legal purposes.
Though exonerated by the legal authorities, the school
insisted on more disciplinary action, suspending Biswas
February 10 in consultation with Department of Education
authorities. According to the notice, Krittika was sent to a
‘reform’ school where ‘alleged criminals’ go for their constitutionally mandated education.
Forensic software engineer
Gleb Liferenko of Granville
Vermont certified to the family
that the e-mail had not originat-
ed in the Biswas computer.
“There is no such thing as an
IP address for a building! In
addition, the building is not a
one-family house, but an apart-
ment building with 270 apart-
ments,” Batra said.
The e-mails were sent from an
IP address associated with the network of Earthlink, Inc,
with IP address 24.239.172.20. Biswas’s computer’s IP,
72.229.54.162 , is registered with the Road Runner service.
Batra also offered evidence to show Krittika was at the
Sky View Park Mall at College Point Boulevard in Flushing,
New York, and nowhere near a computer when the last two
e-mails were sent. Security cameras, bills and consular staff
who were at the mall all showed that Krittika was innocent,
Batra argued.
He produced this evidence before the department of education authorities, after which, March 15, the principal sent
over an e-mail with an attached letter dropping all charges
against Krittika.
“Yet, neither in the predicate conversation nor in the e-mail did he or the DOE admit they had found the actual
criminal who had sent these obscene and criminal emails.
They hid that fact,” Batra said, adding that no disciplinary
Krittika Biswas with her lawyer Ravi Batra
action was taken against that person.
Later, Krittika allegedly met the ostensible culprit, who
may have been upset because he had earlier been asked to
leave a class because he had failed his trigonometry
Regents exam.
Two years ago, Ravi Shankar, associate professor of
English and poet-in-residence at Central Connecticut State
University, was stopped by the police in New York City.
During the background check, the police found there was
an arrest warrant out for a Ravi Shankar. That warrant was
for a 5-foot-10-inch, 150-lb white male; Professor Shankar
is a 6-foot-2-inch, 200-lb Indian man with brown skin.
After 40 hours in jail, Shankar was produced before a
judge, who ordered his release. Shankar approached the
national media but was told such incidents happen frequently and so were not worthy of coverage. He later filed
a civil case that was settled out of court.
