A U.S. federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Justice Department decided to abandon its fraud and bribery case. Brooklyn-based District Judge Nicholas Garaufis approved prosecutors’ request on Monday after seeking additional explanations about why the department no longer wanted to pursue the high-profile prosecution.
Adani was charged in 2024 over allegations that he agreed to bribe Indian government officials to secure approvals for a solar energy project involving an Adani Group subsidiary and subsequently misled U.S. investors about the company’s anti-corruption practices. Adani Group has consistently denied wrongdoing, while Adani did not appear in a U.S. court to respond to the charges. The Justice Department announced in May that it would no longer pursue the case, describing it in a subsequent filing as primarily foreign, difficult to prove and inconsistent with its current enforcement priorities.
Before approving the dismissal, Garaufis questioned whether anything had been offered in exchange for dropping the prosecution, particularly after Adani had previously pledged to invest $10 billion in the United States. In a sworn declaration, Adani said he was unaware of any agreement linking the investment to dismissal of the charges. His lawyer also said the Justice Department had indicated that Adani Group’s willingness to invest in the U.S. would not be considered as part of any resolution.
The dismissal formally ends the U.S. criminal case against Adani after prosecutors concluded they no longer wished to proceed. While judges must approve requests to dismiss federal criminal charges, legal experts say courts generally have limited authority to force prosecutors to continue pursuing cases the government has decided to abandon.
