In a major legal victory for Gautam Adani, US District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York has dismissed the criminal indictment arising from the high-profile US bribery and securities-fraud prosecution. The dismissal is with prejudice, bringing the federal criminal prosecution to an end and preventing the dismissed charges from being refiled. The DOJ had earlier moved to abandon the prosecution after reviewing the case and its enforcement priorities. 

The case dated back to November 2024, when US prosecutors accused Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and other executives of involvement in an alleged scheme concerning more than $250 million in bribes to Indian officials linked to solar-energy contracts, while alleging that US and international investors were misled during capital raising. The allegations had been denied by the Adani side. 

The dismissal assumes significance because Justice Garaufis had earlier refused simply to rubber-stamp the government’s request. In June, he demanded a fuller explanation from the US government, describing its initial justification as insufficient for the Court to exercise its discretion. 

Separately, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani agreed to pay a combined $18 million to settle the parallel SEC civil securities case, $ 6 million by Gautam Adani and $12 million by Sagar Adani without admitting or denying the allegations. 

The development substantially removes one of the biggest overseas legal overhangs that had confronted Gautam Adani and the Adani Group since 2024.