Five Failures in Eight Months: India’s Law Ministry Fails to Serve Adani Legal Papers Amid Corruption Concerns
These ongoing procedural failures raise significant concerns over potential political influence, as Gautam Adani is identified as a “close partner of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
By Rakesh Raman
New Delhi | December 14, 2025
The ongoing legal pursuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Indian industrialists Gautam and Sagar Adani has entered its second year with no progress, as the agency confirms the failure of India’s Ministry of Law and Justice (MOLJ) to deliver the legal summons.
In a status report filed on December 12 with the Eastern District of New York, marking the fifth such filing in eight months, SEC counsel Christopher M. Colorado informed Magistrate Judge James R. Cho that the agency has made “no concrete progress” in serving the defendants.
The SEC requires delivery through diplomatic channels via the Hague Service Convention, utilizing the MOLJ as India’s Central Authority. Colorado noted that the SEC “has been in periodic contact with India’s MOLJ and understands that they have not yet effected service”.
According to a December 13, 2025 news report by The Wire, the initial SEC complaint against the Adanis was lodged in November 2024. The commission formally initiated the service process by requesting assistance from Indian authorities in February 2025, nearly three months later.
However, the Indian government immediately contradicted the SEC’s claim. Just three days after the SEC notified the US court that the request had been formally initiated, according to The Wire, the Department of Legal Affairs responded to a Right to Information (RTI) query, stating that “no such request [had] been received” as of February 21, 2025.
By April 25, the MOLJ finally acknowledged the request. The SEC reported that the Indian government had confirmed receipt and had “requested that the relevant judicial authorities within India attempt to serve the Summons and Complaint on Defendants”.
Despite this crucial step, the momentum “appears to have evaporated”. In the eight months following that April update, the SEC filed status reports in June, August, October, and December, consistently confirming that the papers remain unserved. Following a lapse in federal appropriations and a US government shutdown, the agency reported its last communication with Indian officials occurred on September 14.
Facing persistent diplomatic delays, the SEC attempted an alternative route by approaching the Adanis’ legal team. The agency identified counsel representing Gautam Adani and sent a Notice of Lawsuit and Request for Waiver of Service of Summons. However, these efforts were rebuffed, as neither defendant has agreed to waive service of the Summons and Complaint.
Allegations and Political Context
The underlying SEC complaint, filed in November 2024, accuses Gautam Adani, the founder, chairman, and controlling shareholder of Adani Green Energy Ltd, and Sagar Adani, the company’s executive director, of orchestrating a scheme. The scheme allegedly involved securing contracts necessary for developing what was described as India’s largest solar power plant project.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges the two misled US investors with false claims during a 2021 debt offering by Adani Green Energy. The Adani Group has generally denied the charges, terming them “baseless” without providing specific logical arguments in defense of the allegations.
These ongoing procedural failures raise significant concerns over potential political influence, as Gautam Adani is identified as a “close partner of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. This relationship has led to suggestions that Indian authorities may be hesitant to act against Adani.
The procedural delays occur amid a backdrop of serious corruption allegations facing Prime Minister Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleagues. These serious cases include the PM-CARES Fund case, the Rafale corruption case, the Modi-Adani collusion case, the Sahara-Birla payoff case, and the Sri Lanka energy project case, which involves the Gautam Adani group due to Adani’s close relationship with Modi.
Details regarding these corruption cases involving Modi and his colleagues are described in the latest India Corruption Research Report 2025.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
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