US Judge dismisses bribery case against Gautam Adani; billionaire says 'faith in truth never wavering'

US billionaire Gautam Adani has received a major legal reprieve in the United States after a federal judge dismissed the criminal bribery and fraud case against him. But the ruling came with a significant caveat: the judge questioned how the Justice Department arrived at its decision to abandon the prosecution.

Brooklyn-based US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis approved prosecutors' request to dismiss the case after examining whether Adani's earlier commitment to invest $10 billion in the US had influenced the government's decision. The judge concluded that the investment pledge was not a factor in the dismissal, but said the manner in which prosecutors handled the matter raised concerns.

How the dismissal came about

Before granting the request, Garaufis pressed prosecutors on their reasons for seeking to withdraw the charges, including whether Adani's November 2024 pledge to invest $10 billion in the United States had played any role. He ultimately said he was satisfied the investment promise had not factored into the decision and acknowledged that a judge's authority to second-guess a prosecutor's choice to drop charges is limited.

But he was sharp in his criticism of Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, who he said had worked with Adani's defence lawyers to arrange the dismissal without input from the federal prosecutors or agents who had built the original case. "The irregularities in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning," Garaufis wrote. "McCotter appears to have eschewed the professional opinions of innumerable officials from various federal offices and replaced them with his singular judgment."

A Justice Department spokesperson pointed to a July 4 court filing in which McCotter stated he had reached the decision after meeting with defence lawyers and other Justice Department lawyers and completing his own analysis.

Responding to the ruling, Adani posted on X: "I welcome the U.S. Court's decision with humility and deep respect for the judicial process."

What the case was about

Adani was charged in 2024 with allegedly agreeing to pay bribes to Indian government officials to help a subsidiary of the Adani Group secure approval to develop a solar energy plant, and with subsequently misleading US investors by providing reassuring statements about the group's anti-corruption practices. Adani Group has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Adani himself never appeared in US court to respond to the charges.

In the July 4 filing, McCotter described the case as primarily foreign in nature, difficult to prove, and inconsistent with the agency's current priorities.

The investment question

The $10 billion investment pledge hung over the proceedings. In a sworn declaration filed on July 15, Adani acknowledged having made the investment promise and said his lawyers had told the Justice Department in meetings that the pledge "might be part of a resolution of these matters." Robert Giuffra, a lawyer for Adani, stated in a separate court declaration that the defendants had told the Justice Department the Adani Group was "amenable" to following through on the pledge as part of a resolution to the case.

Garaufis said he took "no position on the ultimate propriety of Mr. Giuffra's repeat attempts to resolve this bribery case with monetary offers," but left the broader question open. "It is up to the public to decide what effect offers of this kind have on the equal administration of justice and the rule of law," he wrote.

Civil settlements and broader context

Separately, Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million to settle civil charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, while his nephew Sagar Adani agreed to pay $12 million. Adani Enterprises has also agreed to pay $275 million to the US Treasury Department to resolve alleged violations of Iran sanctions.