US court refuses to dismiss Gautam Adani case, questions settlement bid
A New York district court refused to dismiss the lawsuit against billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, questioning the change in the US government’s stance.
On Friday, the Eastern District Court of New York ordered the US government to provide reasons and factual arguments for dismissing the criminal case initiated by the Department of Justice (DoJ) against the Adanis.
“The Government’s brief, succinct and precise statement neither provides the court with an adequate basis for reaching any conclusion nor affords an opportunity for any analysis of the Government’s motion to dismiss,” U.S. district judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote in the decision.
Garaufis said that in the absence of sufficient grounds and sufficient evidence to support the dismissal of the indictment, the court cannot exercise its sound judicial discretion.
The court gave the US government until July 13 to respond.
Compromise defense
The U.S. Department of Justice reached an agreement with Adanis and group executives, including former Adani Green Energy chief executive Vneet Jaain, to dismiss criminal charges filed against them in November 2024 for alleged bribery and lying to American investors about it.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached an $18 million settlement with the Adani relative in a civil lawsuit over similar allegations.
Separately, Adani Group’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd agreed to pay $275 million to the US treasury department to buy sanctioned Iranian oil worth about $190 million.
On Wednesday, lawyers representing the Adani family had urged the court to grant the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the indictment and the SEC’s request for a settlement agreement.
The district court’s decision dealt a blow to Adani’s efforts to resolve all its ongoing legal disputes in the US and has been a regulatory drag on the richest Indian and his conglomerate for the past 18 months.
Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, indirectly referred to the US transactions while addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting of Adani Enterprises. Speaking about the progress made by the group over the past year, he said that “did not come in calm conditions for us. It came in the middle of extraordinary scrutiny. However, we did not bend. We did not pause”.
Adani group did not immediately respond to this question. Mint‘s request for comment.
