Judge questions Justice Department move to drop Adani bribery charges

A federal judge in Brooklyn ordered Gautam Adani to answer in writing, under oath, whether any quid pro quo was involved in the Justice Department’s dismissal of its criminal case against him.

U.S. prosecutors unsealed a five-count indictment on November 20, 2024, in Brooklyn federal court, accusing Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani of helping arrange more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts. The indictment also charged securities fraud and wire fraud, alleging that investors and banks were misled as the scheme was unfolding.

The Securities and Exchange Commission moved on the same day with civil charges over Adani Green Energy Ltd.’s September 2021 note offering, which raised about $750 million, including roughly $175 million from U.S. investors, while the alleged bribery scheme was underway. The offering materials misstated Adani Green’s anti-corruption compliance efforts.

The Justice Department announced on May 18, 2026, that it would no longer pursue the criminal charges. But Brooklyn U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis said the government’s explanation was too terse and, in June, declined to immediately approve the dismissal. He gave prosecutors until July 13 to spell out their reasoning. In a July 5 filing, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter said the move was not tied to Adani Group’s plan to invest about $10 billion in the United States. McCotter also argued that the case was legally unsustainable, largely foreign in scope, and out of step with current enforcement priorities. Adani’s lawyers had pushed for dismissal on similar grounds, arguing that the case fell beyond the reach of U.S. law and that prosecutors could not prove the alleged bribery in India.