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Journalism of Courage
A Dehradun court sent South Africa-based businessmen Anil Gupta and Ajay Gupta to judicial custody on Saturday (May 25) for 14 days over an abetment to suicide case. Separately, other members of their family are wanted in South Africa for the misappropriation of government funds to the tune of billions of South African Rands.
In response to the news, the South African government’s Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told a media outlet, “Justice and Correctional Services has noted reports of the arrest of two Gupta brothers, Ajay and Anil, in India. Our arrest warrants were for Rajesh and Atul Gupta. Nevertheless, formal processes are underway through the High Commissioner in India to verify and for possible engagement.”
Who exactly are the Gupta brothers? Why did the South African government issue arrest warrants against them? What is their connection to the Dehradun case? We explain.
Originally from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta migrated to South Africa in 1993. According to a PTI report, Anil (who was arrested along with Ajay) is believed to be their brother-in-law.
Atul Gupta first set up a shoe business and later started Sahara Computers. He then went on to expand into industries like mining, air travel, energy, and media. At one of their firms’ functions, he met South African politician Jacob Zuma, who would go on to serve as the country’s president from 2009 to 2018.
The Gupta brothers are accused of exploiting their connections with Zuma for expanding their businesses, causing huge losses to the state exchequer in the process.
Zuma’s son, Duduzane, was a director of the Guptas’ Sahara Computers. Zuma’s third wife and one of his daughters were also employees of the Guptas for some time. So close were the connections that a term — “Zuptas” — was coined to refer to them together, a BBC report said.
In 2016, Atul Gupta was among the 10 richest South Africans with his wealth valued at $700 million.
The brothers are alleged to be involved in many scams that correspond to Zuma assuming power in 2009. In 2016, South Africa’s ethics watchdog published a report stating favourable contracts had been awarded by public sector companies to close associates of the Guptas.
Later, the Zondo Commission, named after the judge who headed it, was set up to investigate “state capture” — systematic political corruption benefiting private interests — during the Zuma years.
“Central to the Guptas’ scheme of state capture was President Zuma, who the Guptas must have identified at a very early stage as somebody whose character was such that they could use him against the people of South Africa, his own country and his own government to advance their own business interests,” the commission’s report said.
The brothers left South Africa in 2018, amid damning reports about their businesses. In 2022, UAE authorities said they arrested Atul and Rajesh after receiving an Interpol “red notice”. Red Notices are issued for wanted fugitives to alert law agencies globally to arrest such persons until extradition.
However, the UAE said in 2023 that it turned down the extradition request from South Africa based on a technicality, according to a BBC report. It “found that the request did not meet the strict standards for legal documentation as outlined in the extradition agreement between the UAE and South Africa”.
During this period, Zuma was also facing the heat with a public campaign for his ouster called ‘Zuma Must Fall’. It led to his resignation in 2018. He was sent to prison in 2021 after refusing to testify at an inquiry related to the corruption allegations against him. Now released, he formed his own political party last year, although he was barred from contesting in the general elections held on May 29 on account of his conviction.
Ajay, Rajesh and Atul Gupta were provided ‘Z’ category security by the Uttarakhand government in 2018, which was an upgrade from ‘Y’ category cover they had enjoyed till then. The brothers reportedly owned a property in Dehradun and paid the salaries of six personnel assigned to them, a government official had said at the time.
In 2019, the Guptas organised a wedding function in the town of Auli, attended by then Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Uttarakhand High Court ordered them to deposit Rs 3 crores to mitigate the ecological impact of holding the event there.
On May 24 this year, Dehradun-based builder Satendra Singh Sahni alias Baba Sahni reportedly died by suicide. According to PTI, a complaint by his son and a note purportedly written by the deceased named the brothers.
Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Sahni’s letter accused the Gupta brothers of coercion and interfering in his projects, the police said.
A case against Anil and Ajay Gupta was registered and they were arrested. Later, they were sent to judicial custody.
Notably, South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, while addressing an election rally recently, said the government was aware of the arrests. “But he said there was uncertainty about whether any of them were the members for whom South Africa had issued warrants of arrest”, according to PTI’s report.
