Gay marriage illegal in India, maintained Neena Malhotra.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The Indian government have moved senior Indian Foreign Service officer Neena Malhotra out of her position in the Ministry of External Affairs’ Passport and Visa Division, apparently due to her role in refusing to grant a US diplomatic member’s spouse a visa since they are a same-sex couple, and such unions are illegal in India.
The diplomat, whose identity has not been revealed, is said to be an official with the US Agency on International Development (USAID). Although currently posted in Islamabad, he was transferred to an office in New Delhi and consequently applied for a visa for both himself and his spouse, but was denied by the Indian government.
Although ministry sources have apparently said that Malhotra’s removal had nothing to do with the visa denial, the timing suggests that, in fact, it is. Others allegedly involved in the plan to deny the visa for the gay couple include Special Secretary In-Charge of Administration P.S. Raghavan, who is said to have written a letter to Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh urging that the visa not be given.
Malhotra, who initially told her superiors that domestic law prevented the recognition of a homosexual union, is said to have given a no-objection letter to the Home Ministry once she was told to. Although she eventually gave her support to granting the visas, she was nevertheless moved to another department shortly after the controversy broke.
It’s being reported that the couple will receive visas because, although it is true that India does not recognize gay marriages, the spouse can be granted a visa as a family member of the diplomat in question, which has been done numerous times in the past (though not necessarily for a gay couple).
This is not Malhotra’s first run-in with controversy. Two years ago, during her time as a Consul to the Indian Consulate in New York City, she was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million for allegedly abusing a maid who was in her employment at the time. Although she appealed the guilty verdict passed down at the time, she has stayed away from travelling to the US ever since.
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