KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 10

Two more cases of Indian nationals receiving expedition certificates without actually reaching the top of Mt Everest in 2016 have come to light.

According to Taranath Adhikari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, it has now been confirmed that during the spring season of 2016, Indian nationals Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami received expedition certificates without successfully climbing the world's highest mountain.

Both of them had received the certificates by submitting false details to the Department of Tourism.

Their certificates have been revoked.

After receiving a complaint about the fake ascent, the ministry had formed a committee to investigate the matter.

'The investigation has confirmed that both of them had obtained certificates by giving false details,' the MoCTCA spokesperson said.

The Nepali government has also decided to ban the two Indian nationals from mountaineering for the next six years. A meeting of MoCTCA held on February 8 had decided to ban Yadav and Goswami from mountaineering with effect from 20 May 2016.

Meanwhile, Indian citizen Nava Kumar Phukon, the leader of the expedition, has also been banned from mountaineering in Nepal for six years with effect from 20 May 2016.

The government has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Seven Summit Treks Pvt Ltd, the agency which organised the expedition for the Indian nationals.

The ministry has also warned Pawan Kumar Ghimire, the liaison officer of the team, not to repeat such mistakes in the future.

The ministry has also decided to impose a fine of Rs 10,000 on Nga Dawa Sherpa, the climbing supporter during the expedition.

Sherpa had filed false documents claiming that Yadav had successfully climbed Mt Everest on 20 May 2016.

This is not the first time that climbers have been confirmed of faking the summit of Mt Everest.

Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod, an Indian couple, who were part of a different expedition in the spring of 2016, had also claimed that they had scaled Mt Everest and obtained the expedition certificate by submitting false details. Their climbing recognition was also revoked by the DoT.

Aiming to reduce such activities, the government has been dwelling on installing GPS tracking system in the mountains.

However, no progress has been made on this front yet. A version of this article appears in the print on February 11, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.