Tipsy diplomat misbehaves with flyer, recalled

NEW DELHI: Less than a week after diplomat Anil Verma was ordered to return to Delhi for beating his wife, another diplomat, Alok Ranjan Jha, has been recalled from New York after being accused of getting drunk and harassing other passengers on a flight.
Terming the incident "unfortunate", MEA spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash, said, "The matter was looked into immediately. The officer since stands transferred back to headquarters. Necessary follow up action will be taken once he is back in Delhi."

Accounts vary, but Jha was accused of getting drunk on an Air India flight to New York and making "inappropriate" remarks to a female co-passenger. He was also accused of misbehaving at the JFK airport in New York. Complaints to the Indian mission in New York and MEA resulted in the official getting yanked back to base. Some said the MEA's reaction may have been severe, but ministry sources said its important to make an example — that diplomats have to be held to higher behaviour standards.

Jha, a 2002 IIFS officer and first secretary in the permanent mission in NY, has been transferred to Delhi following the January 7 incident. He had topped the all-India civil services exams in 2002.