India's envoy to New Zealand asks FS to resign

New Delhi, Apr 13 (UNI) India's High Commissioner to New Zealand, Harish Dogra, who was recalled by the government last month, has in a surprise move asked Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to prove the charges levelled against him or resign, reports said today.

Mr Dogra had written a letter to the Foreign Secretary accusing him of impropriety and having made India ''a laughing stock in this part of the world.'' The copies of the letter were circulated to the media in Wellington.

In a strong rejoinder, however, India described as ''scurrilous'' the allegations by the High Commissioner against the Foreign Secretary saying the government would deal with the matter in accordance with its well-established procedures.

''Circulation of such scurrilous material is not becoming of a senior member of the Foreign Service. The Ministry of External Affairs will deal with the matter in accordance with its well established norms,'' External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in response to a question.

Mr Dogra was recalled by New Delhi in the middle of last month and asked to report back within two weeks for allegedly having antagonised a section of the Indian community in New Zealand by refusing them visas.

The envoy said he would not quit unless the Indian government told him why he had been recalled.

Mr Dogra, an Indian Foreign Service Officer of 1972 batch who had been appointed envoy to New Zealand in June 2004, in a ten-page letter, challenged the Foreign Secretary's authority in recalling him saying he was ready to face an inquiry.

He also demanded the Foreign Secretary's resignation and accused him of violating the very basic principle of natural justice in decision-making in such a serious matter.

According to the reports, in the April 10 letter, in the letter dated April 10, Mr Dogra said ''you have played with my integrity and honour by these innuendo and slander through gossip leaks. Fairness demands that either you prove your charges or submit your resignation.'' Throughout the letter he accused Mr Saran of taking ill-advised actions saying that ever since the recall order was communicated, Mr Saran had taken the ''cloak of secrecy to conceal his ill-advised and illegal actions.'' ''Every time I have asked what I have done to merit this decision, I have received a classified response that the decision has been taken after careful consideration...What have I been charged with, why am I being hanged without even being given an opportunity to be heard,'' the letter said.

''On such flimsy grounds and personal vendettas, are matters of State decided...Never has any Foreign Secretary behaved in this manner...You have made India a laughing stock in this part of the world. You have not only humiliated me but brought shame on this country,'' Mr Dogra said.

UNI