US regulators blame Indian authorities for failure to serve summons to Gautam Adani
Six months after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) requested India’s assistance in delivering court summons to Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and the Adani Group, the documents remain undelivered. The SEC told a New York federal court on August 11 that India’s Ministry of Law & Justice has not yet served the summons and complaint under the process laid out in the Hague Service Convention.
The case stems from a November 20, 2024, indictment accusing Adani Group executives of bribery, securities fraud, wire fraud, and related conspiracies tied to securing solar power contracts from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Prosecutors allege the group paid Rs 2,029 crore in bribes, including Rs 1,750 crore to officials in Andhra Pradesh and then Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, to secure power sales agreements in multiple states.
According to court filings, the Adani Group and Azure Power allegedly colluded between December 2019 and July 2020 to bribe officials in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Jammu & Kashmir, after SECI struggled to find buyers for its allocated solar power. These actions were linked to a $750 million bond offering by Adani Green Energy Ltd., which prosecutors say was misrepresented to US investors as compliant with American law.
The SEC first sought India’s help in February 2025, routing the summons through the law ministry, which passed it to an Ahmedabad court for service. However, no delivery has taken place. In the meantime, the SEC has sent direct notices to the defendants and their legal teams while continuing to coordinate with Indian authorities.
Sagar Adani was previously served with a US grand jury subpoena in March 2023, and FBI agents seized his electronic devices under a judicial warrant. Adani Group lawyers have attempted to have the US Department of Justice case dismissed, arguing that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act had been suspended under the Trump administration.
The SEC says it will persist in pursuing service through the Hague Convention and keep the court updated, while the case continues to highlight the diplomatic and procedural hurdles in cross-border legal cooperation involving high-profile defendants.