New Delhi [India], August 11 : The legal case in the United States against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani came to a complete closure after US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed the criminal charges against them.
Speaking on the judgement Senior Supreme Court Advocate Vikas Singh said that unless there is some fresh material before the US Department of Justice (DOJ), there is no justification or basis to rake up the criminal matter against the Adani Group again in the future.
Singh maintained that the decision allows the group to operate without any legal issues, provided no new evidence comes to light.
"According to me, once the Department of Justice itself has decided to close the case, I don't see any justification or basis for them to review this call, unless there is some fresh material before them which can justify a relook in the matter. But otherwise, on the basis of whatever material that has been collected so far which has been considered by the US government, I don't think they can reopen this case again," Singh stated.
"I think the Adanis get a clean chit as far as this criminal case is concerned and now they can freely do their businesses in India without any allegation. Even Indian courts have refused to examine this matter in the PIL jurisdiction," Singh added. "The only way the Adanis can get into trouble is if there is some material surfacing with regard to the allegations somewhere of some bribe giving or some wrongdoing. If no such material comes into the public domain, I don't see this matter being raked up again in future."
Commenting on the dismissal of the criminal accusations in the United States, Singh noted that the order marks a definitive conclusion to the issue for the industrial group.
"So according to me now, the dismissal of the charges, nothing remains in the US as far as the criminal accusation against the Adanis is concerned. So it's a very categorical order. It has accepted the government's plea under Section 48A of the Federal Criminal Court Justice Procedure," Singh told ANI.
He further clarified that the government's option to drop charges requires judicial oversight.
"Under Section 48A, is the absolute discretion of the government to, with the approval of the court, accept this kind of a giving up of the charge and closing the case. It's not actually a limited role because the government doesn't have the absolute right to close the case. It can only do it with the approval of the court," Singh said.
Recalling previous proceedings, Singh stated that the court had earlier asked the state to satisfy why it took this step. He pointed out key elements within the order, noting that US authorities informed the court that Indian judicial forums, including the Delhi High Court, the Bombay High Court, and the Competition Commission of India, refused to examine allegations of wrongdoing regarding these specific contracts.
"The allegation also was of wrongdoing in India. So obviously if Indian courts are not interested in investigating or getting this matter investigated, it would be very difficult for the US court to prove that charge," Singh said.
However, the senior advocate highlighted the court's adverse remarks regarding procedural lapses during the application's filing.
"But what the court has adversely commented, and I think rightly so, is that while the state decided to file this application under Section 48A, it did not consult the investigators of this case. And there is no reference to any investigator or anybody from the prosecution side who had built this case so far. That is something which the court finds not correct," he remarked.
Singh explained that such applications ideally require the consent of investigators. Nonetheless, because the court cannot act as a prosecutor, it upholds the executive decision if reasonable grounds exist.
"So if the court sees that there are good grounds for the government to take a call, and the government has taken a call, then I feel that this order is in that sense, as far as the Adanis are concerned, it will close the issue with regard to the criminal cases filed against them," he added.
The US District judge granted federal prosecutors the permission to withdraw the indictment after examining their grounds, ending allegations regarding an Indian solar power contract bribery scheme that allegedly misled American investors.