Adanis End Legal Stalemate, Agree To Receive US SEC Fraud Notice

India-West News Desk

NEW YORK, NY – Billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani have agreed to accept legal notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing a long stalled civil fraud lawsuit to move forward after more than a year of delays because the two were in India and could not be formally served.

According to a joint court filing in federal court in Brooklyn, lawyers representing the SEC and US based counsel for the Adanis have agreed on the acceptance of service of the regulator’s legal papers. This removes the need for the judge to decide on alternative methods of serving the defendants. The joint application has been submitted for the court’s approval and is considered a routine procedural step in US civil litigation.

If approved, the agreement will formally start the timeline for the case. The Adanis would have up to 90 days to either file a motion seeking dismissal of the SEC complaint or submit their formal response. The SEC would then have 60 days to file its opposition, followed by 45 days for the defendants to reply.

The SEC filed the civil lawsuit in November 2024, accusing Gautam and Sagar Adani of violating US securities laws by making false and misleading statements to investors regarding Adani Green Energy Ltd. The regulator alleges that investors were misled about the existence and nature of a bribery scheme linked to the company’s business activities.

Separately, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have brought criminal charges against the Adanis and others, alleging involvement in a $265 million bribery scheme in India aimed at securing solar power contracts. The Adani Group has consistently denied all allegations in both the civil and criminal matters.

Both cases had remained effectively frozen for over a year because the defendants were residing in India and had not been served with legal notices. Last week, the SEC asked the court to permit alternative service methods, including email and service through other US law firms associated with the Adanis.