A United States federal judge has requested further justification from the Justice Department for its decision to drop criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, declining to immediately dismiss the case as requested by Adani’s legal team.
On Friday, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, based in Brooklyn, ruled that the May 18 announcement by federal prosecutors to cease pursuing charges against Adani was insufficiently explained. The charges, originally filed in 2024, included securities fraud and wire fraud related to an alleged bribery scheme. Judge Garaufis instructed the Justice Department to provide a more detailed explanation by July 13.
“The Government’s terse, bland and conclusory statement affords the court neither a sufficient basis to reach any conclusion, nor the opportunity to conduct any analysis of the Government’s request for dismissal,” Garaufis wrote in his order. Until a formal dismissal is granted, the charges remain officially pending.
The case was initiated during the final months of President Joe Biden’s administration. The recent decision to drop the charges comes amid a broader pattern in which the Justice Department has sought to end several prominent white-collar criminal prosecutions during the second term of former President Donald Trump. Legal experts note that while courts have limited power to force prosecutors to continue cases they do not wish to pursue, dismissals are not automatic without judicial approval.
The charges against Adani stemmed from allegations that he agreed to bribe Indian government officials to secure approval for a solar energy project by a subsidiary of his Adani Group, then misled US investors concerning the company’s anti-corruption measures. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also pursued civil charges, which have been settled with Adani agreeing to pay $6 million and his nephew, Sagar Adani, agreeing to pay $12 million. Additionally, Adani Enterprises Limited reached a separate $275 million settlement with the US Treasury Department over alleged sanctions violations involving Iran.
Adani’s legal team, led by attorney Robert Giuffra, argued that the case should be dismissed because US law does not extend to the alleged conduct in India and prosecutors would be unable to prove bribery allegations. Giuffra cited multiple meetings with Justice Department officials and the submission of nearly 500 pages of documents ostensibly demonstrating the case’s weaknesses. Giuffra stated in a June 24 letter to Judge Garaufis that the Department’s decision to drop the case reflected “careful consideration” of these legal and factual issues.
In a brief letter to the court last month, senior Justice Department officials indicated they had exercised prosecutorial discretion in choosing not to allocate further resources to the criminal charges. However, the letter was not signed by the line prosecutors who originally brought the case. Representatives from the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Adani Group has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and Gautam Adani has not appeared in US court related to the charges.