A federal judge is not buying the Justice Department’s explanation for why it wants to walk away from one of the most high-profile international bribery cases in recent memory. US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis has ordered the DOJ to come back with a far more detailed justification for its decision to dismiss criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and several Adani Group executives.
The court set a deadline of July 13, 2026 for the government to deliver that explanation. Until then, the case stays open.
What the DOJ argued, and why the judge wasn’t convinced
The charges stem from an indictment unsealed on November 20, 2024, which accused the Adani Group of participating in a bribery scheme allegedly involving hundreds of millions of dollars funneled to Indian government officials. The indictment also included allegations of securities fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction, specifically around misleading US investors.
The DOJ, in its motion to dismiss, argued that the bulk of the case involved “foreign affairs between Indian citizens” and that Indian authorities had independently investigated and found no actionable misconduct. The government’s filings noted that India appears over 200 times in the case materials, essentially framing this as someone else’s problem.
