Washington: The United States Department of Justice has defended its decision to seek the dismissal of fraud charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, telling a New York court that the case primarily concerns a foreign jurisdiction, falls outside its current enforcement priorities and could create unnecessary diplomatic tensions.
In a filing before the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the department argued that pursuing the case would amount to the United States acting as the “world police”, potentially straining diplomatic relations while diverting resources from domestic law enforcement priorities.
The case stems from an indictment filed in November 2024, in which US prosecutors accused Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, of orchestrating a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure solar power contracts and misleading US investors about the company's anti-bribery practices. Prosecutors had alleged that details of the payments were concealed to obtain financing from investors in the United States.
The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations. It had maintained that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani were charged with securities fraud in the United States and not with bribery.
In May this year, the administration of US President Donald Trump asked the court to dismiss the fraud charges. On June 26, Judge Nicholas Garaufis directed the Justice Department to explain the reasons behind its decision.
Responding to the court, the department argued that the case, initiated under the previous Joe Biden administration, lacked a realistic prospect of proceeding to trial. It contended that the alleged conduct involved Indian nationals working for Indian companies in relation to the Indian government, without involving criminal organisations, American companies or US national security interests.
The department further stated that Indian authorities had already examined several of the allegations and had not found actionable misconduct, arguing that India, which has the strongest interest in the matter, had concluded that no inappropriate conduct had been established.
The request to drop the charges came shortly after reports claimed that Gautam Adani's legal team had informed the Justice Department that he planned to invest $10 billion in the United States and create around 15,000 jobs if the charges were dismissed.
Earlier reports also stated that Adani had appointed a legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Donald Trump's personal lawyers. According to reports, Giuffra met Justice Department officials in Washington and presented a detailed legal argument challenging both the evidence and the department's jurisdiction in the case.