Judge orders DOJ to explain dropping Adani criminal case

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Justice Department to provide a detailed justification for its decision to drop a high-profile criminal case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. The order, issued on Friday, June 26, by U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, delays a formal dismissal of the charges and signals judicial scrutiny of the prosecutors' move.

Judge Garaufis gave federal prosecutors until July 13 to submit a fuller explanation, writing that their initial notice to abandon the case was too vague. He described the government's statement as "terse, bland and conclusory," saying it provided the court with neither a sufficient basis for a conclusion nor an opportunity to analyze the request for dismissal. The order came after Adani's legal team formally requested the case's dismissal on Wednesday, June 24.

The Justice Department announced in May that it would no longer pursue the prosecution, which was originally filed in 2024. The indictment alleged that Adani and others conspired to bribe Indian government officials to secure a contract for a solar power plant. It further accused them of misleading U.S. investors by providing false assurances...