An Indian couple has been banned for 10-year from climbing any mountain in the Himalayan nation Nepal for faking photographs purporting to show them at the summit of Mount Everest.

The couple Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod, both in their 30s, had claimed that they summited the peak of the world's highest mountain, the Everest on May 23.

Earlier, Nepal's Tourism Ministry certified their claim but later carried out an investigation, which proved to be fake.

Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal, chief of the Tourism Department of Nepal, said that, "Our investigation has found that the couple faked their summit. We have canceled the certificate and imposed a 10-year ban against them from climbing any mountain in Nepal."

"We sought clarification from them, but they did not cooperate in our investigation," said Dhakal. "The ban should serve as a warning for other mountaineers to follow ethics," he said.

Nandini