US court dismisses criminal charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani; senior lawyers laud decision

A US federal court has dismissed with prejudice criminal charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, bringing an end to the criminal proceedings against the two before trial and providing major legal relief to the ports-to-energy conglomerate.

US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York approved the US Department of Justice's request to dismiss three counts of the indictment against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain.

The 47-page order, issued on August 10, granted the DOJ's Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss Counts Two, Three and Four. The charges covered securities-fraud conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy and securities fraud. The dismissals were with prejudice, meaning the same charges cannot be refiled.


The judge, however, reserved judgment on Count One, relating to alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Count Five, alleging conspiracy to obstruct justice. These counts involve five non-appearing India-based co-defendants.

Senior lawyers described the decision as the one on 'expected lines'.

Also read: Adani Group stocks jump up to 3% after US judge drops criminal case against Gautam Adani

Judge says dismissal is not verdict on allegations

Garaufis stressed that the dismissal was an exercise of prosecutorial discretion and did not amount to a finding on the merits of the allegations.

“No one should mistake” the ruling for the court's agreement with the government's decision or an opinion on the merits, the judge wrote. No trial was held, witnesses were examined or evidence tested in court.

The Justice Department has until August 31 to meet the court's requirements, while lawyers for the non-appearing defendants have to confirm their clients' consent by the same date.

The judge also criticised the process through which the DOJ sought to withdraw the charges, describing it as containing “irregularities” and being “highly unusual”.

DOJ sought dismissal after review

The Justice Department had moved to dismiss the charges in May after an extensive review, citing jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges, the predominantly Indian nature of the alleged conduct, scrutiny by Indian authorities, the absence of identified investor losses and a shift in the department's priorities.

The DOJ had also argued that the case, which was unsealed during the closing weeks of the Biden administration, had little realistic prospect of reaching trial and appeared to have been a politically motivated “name and shame” exercise.

Garaufis had initially sought more information from the government, saying in June that its explanation for abandoning the prosecution was insufficient.

The judge also examined whether Adani's pledge to invest $10 billion in the US and create 15,000 jobs had influenced the decision. Adani's lawyers said the investment pledge was never offered in exchange for dropping the charges. Garaufis ultimately concluded that the pledge had not influenced the DOJ's decision.

The judge rejected several of the government's stated rationales, including its suggestion that the matter was essentially foreign. He also rejected an argument that the transactions fell outside US securities jurisdiction.

However, the court accepted one rationale concerning statements in Adani Green's bond and loan documents about a “zero tolerance policy for bribery and corruption”, internal compliance measures and oversight by a risk-management committee. Garaufis found these could constitute generic corporate assurances that investors could not reasonably rely on, supporting dismissal of the three fraud-related counts.

Also read: US judge dismisses criminal case against billionaire Gautam Adani

Adani welcomes court decision

Reacting to the ruling, Gautam Adani welcomed the US court's decision and said he accepted it with “humility” and “deep respect” for the judicial process.

“Truth has prevailed,” Adani said in a post on X, adding that he respected the judicial process and was grateful to those who supported the Group during the proceedings.

“Throughout this challenging period, our faith in truth, fairness and the rule of law remained unwavering,” he added.

Adani also reaffirmed the Group's commitment to nation-building, long-term value creation and serving a purpose “larger than ourselves”.

Lawyers call dismissal significant relief

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani described the development as an “expected decision”, according to ANI. He said he had questioned the basis of the case when it was filed in 2024 and described the development as a complete closure of the issue in the US.

Jethmalani also characterised the case as appearing to be a “witchhunt” against the Adanis.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh said “nothing remains” in the US in relation to the criminal accusations against Adani. Speaking to ANI, he said the US government had exercised its discretion to seek withdrawal of the charges and the court had approved the request.

Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa termed the order “highly significant” for the Adani Group, particularly given the negative publicity generated by the 2024 indictment, ANI reported.

Pahwa also pointed to the DOJ's position that the alleged bribery transaction did not take place in the US. He said the dismissal, following judicial scrutiny and approval, meant the criminal case against Adani was “absolutely closed”.

Also read: Gautam Adani welcomes US criminal case dismissal, says faith in rule of law ‘unwavering’

What the 2024 indictment alleged

A grand jury returned the indictment on October 24, 2024, and it was unsealed on November 20, 2024.

US prosecutors had alleged three interlinked schemes between 2020 and 2024. The indictment accused Adani executives of paying about $265 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure solar-power contracts expected to generate more than $2 billion in after-tax profits over two decades.

The prosecutors also alleged that the defendants misled US and international investors to raise nearly $4 billion in financing and subsequently destroyed evidence and lied to the FBI, SEC and a federal grand jury.

The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations and said it acted in accordance with applicable law.

Adani's legal team submitted extensive material

Adani's legal team, retained in August 2025, was led by Robert J Giuffra Jr, co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell and a personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump.

The legal team submitted around 600 pages of legal arguments, expert reports and presentations to the DOJ over 10 weeks between February 3 and April 17, 2026.

The material included an 118-page letter, a 95-page slide deck, a separate 151-page presentation to the SEC and around 200 pages of expert opinions from four specialists. Giuffra described the effort as involving “many thousands of hours”.

Group says operations continued despite case

The Adani Group has said the litigation did not disrupt its operations, financing or project execution.

It invested more than Rs 2.08 lakh crore in the second half of FY25 and FY26, including record annual capital expenditure of Rs 1,52,967 crore in FY26, according to the information provided by the Group.

During the period, Navi Mumbai International Airport, Terminal 2 at Guwahati Airport, Colombo West International Terminal and the Ganga Expressway came onstream.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone became India's first port operator to handle more than 500 million tonnes of cargo in a financial year, while Adani Green Energy crossed 20 GW of operational renewable capacity.

Several Group companies also received credit-rating upgrades, while investors including Apollo Global Management, BlackRock and Capital Group expanded their positions. Banks including MUFG, SMBC, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Société Générale also deepened their relationships with the Group.

Criminal case separate from SEC civil proceedings

The dismissal of the criminal charges is separate from civil proceedings involving Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani before the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC action resulted in a final judgment under which Gautam Adani consented to permanent injunctions covering specified US securities-law violations without admitting the allegations, except as to jurisdiction.

Separately, on the day the DOJ filed its dismissal motion, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $275 million settlement with Adani Enterprises over what it described as “apparent violations” of US sanctions on Iran. OFAC called the conduct “egregious” while also saying the company had “extensively cooperated” with the investigation.

The criminal dismissal concludes the proceedings against the appearing defendants before trial, but does not amount to a judicial finding on the underlying criminal allegations.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)