Two mountaineers from Haryana, Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani claimed to have reached the top of Mount Everest but the evidence they produced including the photographs were held as fake. An investigation was held by the Ministry which concluded that both Yadav and Seema had lied.
Last year, Yadav was recommended for the Tenzing Norgay award which is the highest adventure sports honour in the country. His name was later withheld by the Sports Ministry after media reports emerged of the possibility of the climb being fake.
Both Yadav and Seema have been issued an order by the Ministry in Nepal and have been given a 6 year retrospective ban starting from 2016. The Ministry has also decided to cancel the summit certificates issued to them. On investigation, it was found that the duo had submitted fake documents and photographs. The Ministry imposed a fine of 10,000 Nepalese rupees on Dawa Sherpa, the guide of Yadav and Seema and on the company which organised the expedition. Yadav and Seema were part of a 14 member private expedition to Mount Everest led by Naba Phukon. The team leader Phukon was also banned for 6 years.
