India's high commissioner in New Zealand, Harish Kumar Dogra, who had refused to obey a recall order for over a month, has handed over charge to the deputy chief of mission and proceeded on leave till Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran retires in September.
Dogra has informed Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran of the hand-over in a letter, official sources said on Saturday.
The career diplomat of the rank of secretary, however, has refused to return and decided to go on leave until September, when Saran is slated to retire. He has sought some time to leave his official residence and return to New Delhi, the sources said.
The envoy's recall was ordered in the first week of March but he refused to obey. He had sent an eight-page The appearance of this letter in local media in New Zealand had angered the External Affairs Ministry, which threatened to take disciplinary action against Dogra. In the second letter to Saran, he has again accused the foreign secretary of violating the rules and his human rights and challenged him to prove charges against him.
In the meantime, Dogra has approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, seeking redressal of his grievances. Contending that he was an upright officer who had done no wrong, he has alleged that the decision to recall him was taken in an 'arbitrary manner' and no reasons had been cited for the action.
