Adani Case Takes New Turn as US SEC Moves Federal Court!
The Modi government at the Centre is making its own efforts to protect industrial giant Gautam Adani. Opposition parties have long been alleging that Gautam Adani is very close to those in power, and that this is the reason he has been getting large-scale projects in the country. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier made the same allegations even on the floor of the Lok Sabha. However, there is no instance of Prime Minister Modi ever opening his mouth and speaking on these allegations. Now, the US-based Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approached a federal court seeking permission to serve notices to Indian industrialist Gautam Adani and his brother’s son Sagar Adani through US lawyers and via email. With this, the issue has now become extremely crucial. The main reason for the Securities and Exchange Commission approaching the court now is the failure of its attempts over the past 14 months to serve notices to the two of them.
The SEC informed the federal court that the central government did not cooperate in any way in serving these notices. With no other option left, this was stated in the petition filed before the US District Court in New York. Through this, it made it clear that it is abandoning the treaty-based route it has been following since February 2025. It is well known that allegations had surfaced that Adani Group companies paid bribes of nearly ₹2,200 crore to officials and political leaders in India to secure solar power projects. On the grounds that this information was concealed and US investors were cheated, a case was registered against Adani companies in that country. Criminal cases were registered against Gautam Adani and his close relative Sagar Adani in this matter. In fact, there were also reports that efforts were being made to settle this case.
In this backdrop, it must be said that attempts beginning to send notices via email to Gautam Adani, one of the country’s leading industrialists, have now become crucial. When an attempt was first made to serve notices to them under the Hague Convention, it was rejected once on the grounds that the notices did not have seals. However, even though the SEC immediately replied that there is no such requirement under its rules to serve notices, the Department of Legal Affairs of the Government of India did not agree to this. In simple terms, the SEC stated in the petition filed in the US court that it appeared as though the position was that the SEC does not have the authority to issue such notices to industrialists in the country.
It was also stated that although the provision cited by the Indian government has “no connection whatsoever with Hague Convention procedures,” the ministry “appeared to suggest that the SEC lacks authority to invoke the Hague Convention or attempt service of summonses.” Whether notices will now be issued to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani will depend on the orders given by the US court. For some time now, US President Donald Trump has been very angry with regard to India. On one hand, he keeps repeatedly saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is his good friend and close associate, while on the other hand, he appears to be obstructing the trade agreement from taking final shape for various reasons. In this situation, it remains to be seen how many twists and turns the case registered against Adani in the US will take.
