The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has directed an Ahmedabad sessions court to serve Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, with a summons from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to an ongoing lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The move comes after the SEC requested assistance under the Hague Convention, a treaty that enables signatory nations to request legal cooperation in serving judicial documents.
According to official records, the Department of Legal Affairs (DLA) under the law ministry forwarded the SEC’s request to the Ahmedabad court on February 25, instructing it to serve the summons at Adani’s Ahmedabad address. The legal action is part of the SEC’s case against Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, in their roles as executives of Adani Green Ltd, for allegedly concealing payments of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Indian government officials to secure energy purchase commitments at inflated prices, benefiting Adani Green and Azure Power, a solar energy firm.
While the lawsuit has created uncertainty for the Adani Group, reports suggest that the company remains optimistic that the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, which has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), 1977, might lead to less legal action against Mr. Adani in the U.S.. Meanwhile, the Financial Times recently reported that the Adani Group has resumed exploring business opportunities in the U.S., despite the ongoing legal challenges.
It remains unclear whether the Adani lawsuit was discussed in diplomatic engagements between India and the U.S.. When asked about the matter during his February visit to Washington, D.C., Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismissed it as a “personal matter”, stating that such issues are not discussed in meetings between world leaders.
Source: The Hindu
