A US federal court has dismissed the criminal securities and wire fraud charges against industrialist Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and Adani Green Energy chief executive Vneet Jaain, bringing the criminal proceedings against the three to an end.
Judge Nicholas G Garaufis of the US district court for the eastern district of New York on 11 August 2026 approved a request by the US department of justice (DoJ) to dismiss three charges against the three accused—conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud.
The charges have been dismissed with prejudice, meaning the criminal proceedings covered by the order have been conclusively terminated.
The decision followed a prolonged review of the DoJ's request to abandon the prosecution. While ultimately accepting the government's proposal, judge Garaufis raised concerns about how the decision was reached, describing the circumstances surrounding the DOJ's move as 'highly unusual'.
"The fact that McCotter came to this decision largely in collaboration with defence counsel, and seemingly without input from the FBI and SEC agents who investigated the alleged misconduct, or the attorneys from the Department, SEC, and U.S. Attorney’s Office who brought the case, appears to be highly unusual," the judge said in his order.
Judge Questioned DoJ's Reasons for Dropping Case
The DoJ had initially sought dismissal of the indictment against all eight defendants. However, judge Garaufis did not immediately accept the request and, on 25 June 2026, directed the department to provide a fuller explanation for its decision.
The court subsequently considered several reasons put forward by principal associate deputy attorney general R Trent McCotter for abandoning the prosecution.
The judge accepted one of the department's central arguments concerning the securities and wire fraud allegations. The court found that statements attributed to Adani Green Energy regarding its anti-bribery policies, corporate governance and commitment to legal compliance were so broad that they might not constitute actionable representations for the purposes of a fraud prosecution.
"The alleged misrepresentations appear to be so broad as to qualify as inactionable puffery," the court said.
The Court noted that broad corporate statements, including commitments to a 'zero tolerance' approach towards bribery and corruption and general assurances about ethical business practices, could be viewed as aspirational statements rather than precise representations on which investors could reasonably rely.
However, judge Garaufis rejected several other arguments advanced by the DoJ.
These included the department's contention that the case was primarily foreign in nature, that Indian authorities had found no actionable misconduct, that investors had not suffered financial losses and that the accused were unlikely to appear before the US court.
Court Rejects DoJ's Reliance on Indian Decisions
The judge gave particular scrutiny to the DoJ's reliance on three decisions from Indian authorities and courts.
The department had cited the decisions as evidence that Indian authorities had examined the allegations and found no actionable wrongdoing. Judge Garaufis, however, said the documents did not substantiate that conclusion.
"Not one of the documents appears to be the result of an investigation by India or anyone else. Rather, each document appears to be a decision by an Indian government authority not to investigate. Not one of the documents meaningfully contends with the allegations in this case. In fact, the allegations—in each case, brought by a private individual—bear very little resemblance (if any) to the alleged conduct in the Indictment. Finally, no document concludes that nothing ‘inappropriate’ happened," the order said.
The three matters examined by the court included a competition commission of India (CCI) proceeding arising from a private complaint alleging collusion and abuse of dominance involving entities in the solar power sector; a Delhi High Court public interest litigation (PIL) concerning alleged irregularities in the competitive bidding process for solar projects; and a Bombay High Court petition seeking an investigation into alleged bribery.
According to judge Garaufis, none of those matters addressed the specific allegations contained in the US indictment.
The judge noted that the Indian proceedings did not examine allegations relating to purportedly false representations to US lenders and investors. Nor, according to the order, did they address allegations that some defendants destroyed evidence or provided false information to the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and DoJ officials in New York.
US$10bn US Investment Pledge Examined
The Court also considered whether Adani's publicly announced plan to invest US$10bn (billion) in the US had any bearing on the government's decision to abandon the criminal prosecution.
During settlement discussions, Mr Adani's lawyers had reportedly suggested that the proposed US investment could form part of a resolution. The US attorney's office rejected the proposal.
Judge Garaufis ultimately found that the investment commitment had not influenced the DoJ's decision to seek dismissal.
The Court also reiterated that its role in reviewing a prosecutor's decision to discontinue a federal criminal case is limited. Having considered the government's explanations and the applicable legal framework, the judge accepted the DoJ's request as it related to Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain.
Charges against 5 Other Accused Remain Open
The court has not, however, closed the entire case. Judge Garaufis reserved his decision on the DoJ's request to dismiss the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) conspiracy charge against Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal.
The judge also kept the obstruction-related charge against all of them except Gupta pending.
The DoJ has been directed to provide adequate reasons and supporting material for seeking dismissal of those charges by 31 August 2026. The lawyers representing the five defendants must also confirm their consent to the proposed dismissals by that date.
The criminal charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain did not include either the FCPA conspiracy charge or the obstruction charge that remain under consideration for the other defendants. Consequently, no criminal charge under the indictment remains pending against the three.
Case Centred on Alleged Solar Project Bribery
The original US indictment alleged that Mr Adani, Sagar Adani, Mr Jaain, Mr Gupta and others were involved in a scheme to pay bribes to Indian government officials to secure agreements connected with a 12-gigawatt solar power project.
US prosecutors had alleged that bribes worth around ₹2,029 crore, or about US$265mn (million), were promised to officials associated with Indian state electricity distribution companies.
Of this amount, around ₹1,750 crore was allegedly intended for officials in Andhra Pradesh in connection with agreements to purchase seven gigawatts of solar power.
The allegations formed the basis of the US securities and wire fraud prosecution.
The DoJ subsequently reversed course and sought dismissal of the indictment. The move triggered judicial scrutiny because of the significant change in the government's position after the case had already been brought.
In a later filing, the department also argued that investors had not suffered financial losses on the securities at the centre of the case.
The DoJ said that none of the investors had lost money on the securities involved, pointing out that two of the notes had been fully repaid while the other two remained current, with no indication of an impending change.
Separate SEC Settlement
Separately, the Adanis have reached a civil settlement with the SEC over securities fraud allegations.
Under the settlement, the Adanis will pay US$18mn to the US government, bringing the SEC's civil securities-related proceedings to a resolution.
The civil settlement is separate from the criminal case that judge Garaufis has now dismissed.
Adani Welcomes Court Decision
Gautam Adani welcomed the dismissal, saying he accepted the outcome with "humility and deep respect for the judicial process."
"Throughout this challenging period, our faith in truth, fairness and the rule of law remained unwavering," Mr Adani said in a post on X.
He also thanked those who continued to have faith in him, the legal system and India's ability to deliver justice.
Mr Adani said the Adani group would remain focused on its broader business and investment commitments.
"We will continue doing what matters: building for our nation, creating value that outlasts us and serving a purpose larger than ourselves. That is our commitment," he said.
The dismissal marks a major development in the US legal proceedings involving the Adani group. While the criminal case against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain has now ended, the Court's scrutiny of the DoJ's decision and the unresolved charges against five other defendants mean that parts of the wider prosecution remain alive.
The ruling also leaves on record the judge's reservations about the government's handling of the case, particularly its decision to abandon the prosecution after the charges had already been investigated and brought before the court.
