US judge asks Justice Department to justify dropping criminal charges against Adani

The order came weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop criminal charges against the Adani Group chairman and his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others, marking a pause in what had been one of the highest-profile corporate prosecutions launched under the previous Biden administration.

A US federal judge on Friday declined to immediately dismiss the criminal case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, instead directing the Justice Department to explain why it wants to withdraw the charges, according to news agency Reuters.

Adani was charged in 2024 with allegedly agreeing to pay bribes to Indian government officials to secure approvals for a solar power project for an Adani Group subsidiary. US prosecutors also accused him of misleading American investors by portraying the company's anti-corruption practices more favourably than they actually were.

The order came weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop criminal charges against the Adani Group chairman and his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others, marking a pause in what had been one of the highest-profile corporate prosecutions launched under the previous Biden administration.

The judge did not rule on a request filed earlier this week by Adani's legal team seeking formal dismissal of the case.

US prosecutors had alleged that Adani and his co-accused orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme involving Indian government officials to secure approvals for the project. They also claimed the defendants raised more than $3 billion from lenders and investors without disclosing details of the alleged corruption.

The Adani Group has consistently denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

INVESTMENT PLAN REPORTEDLY DISCUSSED

The move came weeks after Adani's attorney, who also serves as US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, reportedly informed US officials that the Indian businessman intended to invest $10 billion in the United States but could not move forward while the criminal proceedings remained unresolved.

The reported investment proposal surfaced shortly before the Justice Department filed its request to dismiss the case.

The administration has not publicly linked the proposed investment to its decision to abandon the prosecution.

SEPARATE IRAN SANCTIONS SETTLEMENT

Alongside its request to drop the fraud case, the Trump administration also resolved a separate investigation involving alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran.

The US Treasury Department said Adani Enterprises agreed to pay $275 million to settle allegations related to imports of Iranian-origin liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

According to US authorities, Adani Enterprises purchased LPG shipments through a Dubai-based trader that claimed the fuel originated in Oman and Iraq. Investigators alleged the cargoes had actually come from Iran.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said the company bought about $191 million worth of LPG shipments between November 2023 and June 2025 and failed to carry out adequate due diligence despite multiple warning signs about the cargoes' origin.

US officials alleged the company ignored red flags suggesting the shipments may have originated from Iran and overlooked what they described as the "economic, commercial, and logistical implausibility" of the declared source and pricing.

In a related development, the US Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with Adani in a parallel civil lawsuit tied to the alleged bribery scheme. That agreement, however, still requires court approval before it can take effect.

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With inputs from agencies