The infamous Gupta brothers have been fined just over R50 000 by Indian authorities for littering and after someone "defecated in the open" during the lavish weddings of their two sons at the Auli ski resort in the Himalayas.
According to The Economic Times of India, Satyapal Nautiyal, executive officer in the Joshimath municipality said "a fine of Rs1.5 lakh (about R30 646 as of Monday) has been imposed on the Guptas for scattering garbage and another Rs1 lakh (about R20 430) for defecating in the open".
The report said the municipality had also sent a copy of the "challan" (invoice or official document) to the event management company that made the arrangements for the weddings, which cost an estimated 200m Indian rupees, or around R43m.
Nautiyal added that 814 000 Indian rupees (R166 804) had also been sent to the company for "collecting the garbage left behind after the weddings".
News24 previously reported that twenty-two tons of garbage were left in the aftermath of the two Gupta family weddings in the ecologically sensitive area in the Indian province of Uttrakhand.
The wedding of Ajay Gupta's son, Suryakant, was celebrated from June 18 to 20, and the wedding of Atul Gupta's son, Shashank, was celebrated from June 20 to 22 in Auli.
Uttarakhand: Work underway by Municipal Corporation to clean up the garbage and waste left behind in Auli after the marriage of members of the Gupta family of South Africa, at the hill station held between 18 to 22 June. pic.twitter.com/lsIEnaOLqY
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2019
Gulf News and the Financial Express reported that 22 tons of waste had been collected from the wedding site between Sunday and Monday. The municipality had to bring in seven to eight trucks for the purpose, officials said.
This is not the first ostentatious Gupta wedding to raise eyebrows.
In 2013, much to the consternation of the South African public, a private plane carrying about 200 guests to the wedding of Vega Gupta and Aakash Jahajgarhia was allowed to land at Waterkloof Air Force Base and blue-light brigades whisked the guests off to Sun City. Several ministers and political figures attended the wedding.
As the Guptas' hold on the South African state was exposed, it emerged that public money was allegedly used to fund the extravagant Sun City wedding.
The #GuptaLeaks detailed the intricacies of how R30m from the provincial government-funded Estina dairy project in the Free State was laundered through a series of bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates to pay for the wedding.
Eight people, including the bride's brother, Varun Gupta, were charged in relation to the Estina case last year, but the charges were provisionally withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in November.