US Regulators Hit ‘Wall of Procedural Hurdles’ as India Delays Serving Summons in Adani Bribery Case

RMN News Report Highlights:

⚠️ The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is struggling to serve summons and complaints to Adani Group executives in India regarding alleged securities fraud and bribery.

⏳ Legal documents have remained undelivered six months after the SEC requested assistance from India’s Ministry of Law & Justice.

💰 The indictment charges the Adani executives with orchestrating a scheme to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials.

🇮🇳 This case represents a high-profile attempt by a U.S. regulator to secure cross-border cooperation in a matter involving one of India’s largest conglomerates, whose founder is a close partner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

RMN News Legal Desk
New Delhi | October 11, 2025

NEW YORK/MUMBAI – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is encountering significant international legal hurdles in its high-profile case against Adani Group founder Gautam S. Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and the Adani Group. American regulators have informed a New York court that Indian authorities have not yet acted on requests to serve summons and complaints to the executives regarding allegations of securities fraud and a bribery scheme.

The failure to deliver the legal papers comes six months after assistance was first requested from India’s Ministry of Law & Justice. This delay is highlighted in the new India Judicial Research Report 2025, which describes the situation under the title, “International Dimensions of Judicial Dysfunction: The Adani Bribery Case: The Wall of Procedural Hurdles“.

The case marks one of the most high-profile attempts by a U.S. regulator to secure cross-border cooperation from Indian authorities in a matter involving one of that country’s largest conglomerates.

The Allegations and Indictment

The legal actions stem from allegations that Adani executives orchestrated a massive scheme to pay bribes and subsequently misled international investors.

A criminal indictment was unsealed on November 20, 2024, charging Gautam S. Adani and others with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and substantive securities fraud. The indictment alleges that the scheme involved paying over $250 million (approximately Rs 2,029 crore) in bribes to Indian government officials. Another source refers to the alleged bribery scheme as totaling $265 million.

U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn previously unsealed an indictment accusing Adani of bribing Indian officials to convince them to buy electricity produced by Adani Green Energy, a unit of the Adani Group. Furthermore, the SEC complaint alleged that the defendants then misled U.S. investors by providing reassuring information about the company’s anti-graft practices.

The alleged fraud allowed the defendants to raise substantial capital, securing over $2 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated syndicate loans and over $1 billion from Rule 144A bond offerings.

Procedural Logjam and Political Context

The SEC told a New York district court that it has been in repeated contact with India’s law ministry in efforts to serve the legal documents. However, its most recent communication on September 14 received no confirmation of delivery.

The procedural delays come amid concerns over potential political influence. Gautam Adani is identified as a close partner of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to concerns that Indian authorities may be hesitant to act against Adani.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the FBI New York’s Corporate, Securities and Commodities Fraud and International Corruption Units, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the SEC’s New York Regional and Boston Regional offices.

Defense Strategy

In response to the serious allegations, lawyers for the Adani Group were reportedly aiming in March to persuade their U.S. counterparts to “dismiss” the case. This strategy was said to be relying on the Donald Trump administration’s suspension of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in February.

In the past, the Adani Group has called the allegations “baseless” and has stated it would pursue “all possible legal recourse”. Adani Green Energy also reported in January that it had appointed independent law firms to review the U.S. charges.

As neither Gautam Adani nor Sagar Adani is in U.S. custody, and both are currently in India, the SEC stated it will continue communicating with the India Ministry of Law and Justice and is pursuing service of the defendants via the Hague Service Convention.