News24.com | UAE refuses Gupta extradition request on a technicality, but NPA says SA 'ticked all the boxes'

Atul Gupta pictured in 2010. The UAE has refused South Africa's request to extradite the Gupta brothers.

• The United Arab Emirates has refused South Africa's request to extradite the Gupta brothers.
• The justice department was notified of the decision in a diplomatic note on Thursday, even though the decision was made in February already.
• South African authorities were shocked by the decision. The prosecuting authority said all technical processes had been complied with and all boxes had been ticked.

South African authorities are shocked by the dismissal of a request to have Gupta brothers, Rajesh and Atul, extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to South Africa to face money laundering and fraud charges.

What's worse is that the decision was made in February already but South Africa was only informed about it this week.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said his department learnt with "shock and dismay" on Thursday, through a note verbale (diplomatic note) via the South African embassy in Abu Dhabi, that the application had been denied.

In a briefing on Friday, Lamola said the Guptas appeared in court in the UAE on 13 February without South Africa being notified.

In addition, South Africa requested an update on the case in February and March, but it was not provided. The first update came on Thursday night, he said.

"Whether we have received an English version of the note verbale, we did. But the summary of the judgment was in Arabic so we had to work overnight. We received it at 8pm and had to work overnight to interpret the summary of the judgment. That is the life we have been living with the authorities in the UAE."

How safe is your neighbourhood? Find out by using News24's CrimeCheck

Lamola said the application was denied on the basis of a technicality, and added that they were not asked to provide any clarity.

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said the National Prosecuting Authority had complied with all "technical aspects" of the case and "ticked all the boxes".

She said: 

"To assume legal process was not followed correctly is absolutely incorrect."

The justice department is awaiting a copy of the full judgment.

One of the technical issues that reportedly led to the dismissal of the extradition request was the cancellation of a warrant of arrest regarding the charges of fraud and corruption, Batohi explained.

READ | Atul, Rajesh Gupta applied for asylum in Cameroon and Central African Republic: report

She said the warrant in question, which was the first to be issued, had not included all the charges. A second warrant was then issued with all charges included.

She said this could easily have been explained if the UAE court had provided the NPA with an opportunity to respond.