Gautam Adani gets major legal relief in US: Judge dismisses fraud, bribery charges after Justice Department drops case

A US federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Justice Department decided to abandon its bribery and fraud case against him.

Brooklyn-based US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis approved federal prosecutors' request to dismiss the case on Monday. The decision came after the judge sought additional explanations from the Justice Department and questioned Adani about whether any agreement had been made in exchange for dropping the charges.

Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing. Adani himself was never brought before a US court to face the charges.

What was Gautam Adani accused of?

Adani was indicted in 2024 over allegations that he had agreed to bribe Indian government officials to help an Adani Group subsidiary secure approval for a major solar power project.

US prosecutors also accused Adani and other defendants of misleading American investors by providing assurances about the companies' anti-corruption practices.

The case involved Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another company linked to a plan to sell as much as 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government.

Adani Group rejected the allegations as baseless.

Why did the US Justice Department drop the case?

The Justice Department announced on May 18 that it would no longer pursue the prosecution.

In a subsequent July 4 court filing, senior Justice Department official Trent McCotter said the case was primarily foreign, difficult to prove and inconsistent with the department's current priorities.

“The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants,” prosecutors said in the filing.

Judge questioned why prosecutors wanted to drop charges

Garaufis initially sought more information from the Justice Department, describing its explanation for abandoning the case as “bland and conclusory.”

The judge also wanted to determine whether Adani had received or offered anything in exchange for the dismissal.

Garaufis specifically asked whether Adani was aware of “any agreement exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment.”

Adani's lawyer denies investment was part of deal

Robert Giuffra, an attorney representing Adani, said in a July 15 court filing that the Justice Department had told him it would not consider the Adani Group's willingness to invest in the US as part of any resolution of the case.

That assurance helped address the judge's concerns over whether the proposed dismissal was connected to Adani's investment plans.

The court ultimately approved the Justice Department's request and dismissed the charges.