Counsel for Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain have urged a US federal court to approve the Department of Justice‘s (DOJ) motion to dismiss criminal charges against them with prejudice and to enter consent judgments resolving related civil claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We respectfully ask the Court to grant the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the Indictment with prejudice and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion to enter the pending Consent Judgments resolving its claims,” counsels for the defendant submitted in a letter to Judge Garaufis.
The DOJ had earlier moved under Rule 48(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to dismiss the indictment, stating that it had exercised its prosecutorial discretion not to devote further resources to these criminal charges. The defence argued that courts have “very limited authority” to deny such requests, particularly where dismissal is sought with prejudice and with the defendants’ consent.
The filing also noted that the indictment and complaint do not allege any U.S. bribery offenses or any investor losses arising from any of the four transactions. Both the 2021 and 2024 bond offerings were available only to Qualified Institutional Buyers, which are large and sophisticated institutions that own or invest more than $100 million in securities. “The 2021 bond offering has matured, and all interest payments have been made. The 2024 bond offering has missed no interest payments. The 2021 loan has been repaid in full, and the 2023 loan is not in default,” they said.
The defence said the DOJ’s decision reflects its careful consideration of the Indictment’s legal and factual weaknesses, and after months of detailed and extensive communications and meetings with counsel for the Adani DOJ Defendants regarding the law and facts governing this case—including numerous written submissions and oral presentations by counsel, the production of documents, and the consideration of reports prepared by prominent experts in the United States and India.
Vneet S. Jaain is represented by Andrey Spektor of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, while Sagar R. Adani is represented by Timothy D. Sini of Nixon Peabody LLP. Gautam Adani is represented by a team from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, comprising Robert J. Giuffra, Jr., Nicolas Bourtin, Suhana S. Han and Andrew J. DeFilippis.
