Question NW795 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
14 April 2023 - NW795
Breytenbach, Adv G to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
(a) Where and (b) in what type of custody are the Gupta brothers, Rajesh and Atul Gupta, held, following the confirmation by the Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that they were arrested in Dubai in June 2022, but the South African public has no details of the circumstances around the arrest and no details of where the Gupta brothers are being held; (2) Whether his department has requested the UAE for the details and/or information of where the Gupta brothers are held; if not, why not; if so, (3) Whether the information was provided to his department; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, on what date; (4) Given that the above information is mere background information which ought not to impact their formal extradition process, what information was his department given with regard to the circumstances around the arrest of the two Gupta brothers?
Reply:
On 6 June 2022, the UAE Ministry of the Interior’s Directorate General for the Federal Criminal Police in Abu Dhabi informed the National Criminal Bureau, Interpol Pretoria, that Mr Atul Kumar Gupta and Mr Rajesh Kumar Gupta were arrested in the UAE. The authorities in the UAE followed this up with a Note Verbale dated 6 June 2022, informing the Minister that the suspects have been arrested.
The Department was further informed during an official visit to the Central Authority of the UAE that the Gupta brothers remain incarcerated in prison, but the exact details were not disclosed, as this is not standard practice in the UAE to disclose this information.