<p>"The Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs provides that consular officers are not liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a felony where a court warrant is required. But that provision does not apply to family members," the State Departments spokesman, Mark Toner, told reporters at his daily news conference here yesterday.<br /><br />Family members of the diplomats do carry diplomatic passports, he acknowledged but diplomatic immunity does not apply to them, he noted.<br /><br />"This is different for consular officers versus those in the embassy. There's different categories," Toner said.<br /><br />At a news conference in New York, Krittika Biswas, daughter of the vice counsel at the Indian Consulate in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, claimed that she was ill-treated in prison.<br /><br />Biswas alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time when she was in custody at the 107th precinct.</p>.<p>"Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," Biswas said, referring to a small toilet that was in the cell occupied by other persons. <br /><br />Her lawyer Ravi Batra said that her more than 24-hour arrest on February 8 was a violation of international law, federal law as well as state and city law.<br /><br />Batra said that neither Debashish Biswas, father of the girl, nor the Consulate General of India, Prabhu Dayal, were informed of the arrest.<br /><br />Batra also claimed that Biswas, 18, had diplomatic immunity that prevented her from being arrested.<br /><br />But the Consulate General said that US authorities informed him that the immunity did not extend to family members of the diplomat.<br /><br />"That did not cut any ice," he said.<br /><br />It later emerged that Biswas did not send the emails and the school authorities eventually allowed her back to the school after the real culprit was found. </p>
<p>"The Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs provides that consular officers are not liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a felony where a court warrant is required. But that provision does not apply to family members," the State Departments spokesman, Mark Toner, told reporters at his daily news conference here yesterday.<br /><br />Family members of the diplomats do carry diplomatic passports, he acknowledged but diplomatic immunity does not apply to them, he noted.<br /><br />"This is different for consular officers versus those in the embassy. There's different categories," Toner said.<br /><br />At a news conference in New York, Krittika Biswas, daughter of the vice counsel at the Indian Consulate in Manhattan, Debashish Biswas, claimed that she was ill-treated in prison.<br /><br />Biswas alleged that she was not allowed to use the bathroom for a long-time when she was in custody at the 107th precinct.</p>.<p>"Eventually, I had to go in front of everyone," Biswas said, referring to a small toilet that was in the cell occupied by other persons. <br /><br />Her lawyer Ravi Batra said that her more than 24-hour arrest on February 8 was a violation of international law, federal law as well as state and city law.<br /><br />Batra said that neither Debashish Biswas, father of the girl, nor the Consulate General of India, Prabhu Dayal, were informed of the arrest.<br /><br />Batra also claimed that Biswas, 18, had diplomatic immunity that prevented her from being arrested.<br /><br />But the Consulate General said that US authorities informed him that the immunity did not extend to family members of the diplomat.<br /><br />"That did not cut any ice," he said.<br /><br />It later emerged that Biswas did not send the emails and the school authorities eventually allowed her back to the school after the real culprit was found. </p>