Sacked Indian envoy will go

The Indian High Commissioner who was sacked but refused to leave New Zealand has agreed to return to his homeland, according to Indian media outlets.

"He is a senior government official. He will return," Harish Dogra's lawyer Sanchit Sahajpal told Indian news agency PTI.

The agency reported that Mr Dogra would return to face disciplinary action from the Indian Government, but his wife Neeta and son had decided to settle in New Zealand and were applying for visas.

Mr Dogra was recalled to India more than a month ago. If he goes, it will end the unusually public diplomatic fracas, which came to a head last week when the envoy accused India's Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, of pursuing a vendetta against him and called for his resignation.

The Dogras refused to speak to New Zealand media yesterday.

A camera crew from India's Star TV, who had been allowed access to the house, said the High Commissioner was not discussing his future and had not divulged whether he would willingly return to India.

The crew said they had been in the house since Thursday and planned to fly back to India last night.

Another visitor, Wainuiomata resident Rakesh Sejwal, who said he was a close friend of Mr Dogra, indicated the High Commissioner would be leaving. "I just came to say goodbye because they are moving on," he said.

The Dogras previously told another Indian news agency that their lives would be at risk if they returned home, and they were considering seeking asylum here.

A Department of Labour spokesperson said yesterday that the department could not comment on individuals' immigration applications.

People inside Mr Dogra's property would not talk to the Herald on Sunday yesterday, except for one man who said via the intercom: "They are not in, thank you."

The family turned away removal vans on Friday.

Mrs Dogra is a trained zoologist and a self-taught artist, whose works have been exhibited at several shows in the Wellington region.