US regulator seeks to bypass Indian government to serve Adani summons

NEW DELHI: The US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a US court for permission to personally email summons to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and group executive Sagar Adani over alleged fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme, filings show.

India, the SEC said, has previously refused two requests to serve the summons. In the most high-profile legal case in the U.S. involving an Indian conglomerate, the SEC has been trying to send summons to Adani group founder Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar since last year.

Adani group has called the allegations “baseless” and said that it would seek “all possible legal recourse” to defend itself. It did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the latest SEC filing, dated January 21.

In the response to the New York court, the U.S. markets regulator said it “does not expect service to be completed” through the current route and should be allowed to directly email the summons to the Adani group executives.

India’s law ministry also did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request seeking comment on the latest filing. It has previously described the issue as a legal issue between private firms and the United States.

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Alleged scheme to bribe Indian officials

The indictment, which was unsealed in November 2024, accused Adani group executives of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to Indian officials for buying electricity produced by Adani Green Energy, a unit of the Adani group.

The SEC complaint says the executives also misled U.S. investors by providing information about the company’s anti-graft practices.

The two rejections by India to serve the summons, the SEC filing said, were based on procedural reasons, such as signature and seal requirements, none of which it said is needed in summons sent to individuals in another country under the international treaties of the Hague Convention.

In its second rejection in December last year, the court filing added that India’s law ministry appeared to raise doubts about the SEC’s authority to request service of summons.

“These responses demonstrate that further attempts through the Hague Convention are unlikely to succeed,” the SEC filing said.

Ties between India and the U.S. have deteriorated over U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs.