US DOJ drops charges on Adani, a boost to market confidence: Experts

Experts hail the US Department of Justice's move to dismiss fraud charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani as a positive development. This is expected to aid the Adani Group's overseas expansion and boost FII confidence in Indian companies.

Experts Hail 'Positive' US Move

The US Department of Justice's move to permanently dismiss all alleged criminal fraud charges against industrialist Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, is a very positive development and will help the Adani Group go full throttle to expand its business overseas, experts have said.

Power Gilt Treasuries Director, Vineet Nahata, said Indian stock markets have also responded positively to the development. "This is a very positive move. Our stock markets, too, have given it a green signal... In the context of this Adani case, the doubts that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) harboured regarding the corporate governance and the authenticity of the books of accounts of Indian companies have effectively been dispelled. The fact that Adani has received a clean chit serves as a major confidence booster and will prove highly instrumental in rebuilding trust," he said.

'Clean Chit' for Adani

Raian Karanjawala, Managing Partner of Karanjawala & Company, said the decision is a positive development from the country's perspective also. "What we had thought would happen has happened... For the Adanis, it is a clean chit and a clean slate from which they can continue their business... Now I think straightforwardly, they will be at full throttle to expand their business as much as they can and to make up for lost time... It will again establish what he always said, which is that he was innocent and that frankly there was no real wrongdoing," he said.

"Even from the country's perspective, it is a positive development because when the richest man in Southeast Asia is an Indian, and he has charges hanging over his head in an international forum, then it obviously puts a dampening effect on the levels and state of his business. Now of course he is free to do whatever he set out to do and continue to do it," Raian Karanjawala said.

Allegations Part of 'Corporate War'

Political Analyst Prof Sangit Kumar Ragi said there were no substance in the allegations. "I feel that all these things happened against Gautam Adani due to a corporate war... There is no evidence that the Adani Group paid any bribes in India... This case should never have been filed in the first place. There was absolutely no substance to it. Secondly, there is a jurisdictional issue since the incident occurred here," he said

"There is a corporate war in India which wants to intimidate the Adani Group and diminish its corporate credibility so it can't raise funds in other countries. So there was an intent to damage the company. This wasn't a defeat for India's corporate sector. This was an attempt to undermine India's growth story. I believe there were some international forces involved in this, along with some Indian corporate houses," he added.

A Message for Indian Companies

Advocate Sonam Chandwani said that legal implications are high in cases in foreign countries and companies should be watchful. "I think it is a message for Indian companies that they need to be very clear about compliance disclosures and also when it comes to international business relations they have to be more cautious. It doesn't only affect the reputation but also the legal implications are very high because market sentiments also get affected," Chandwani said.

"SEBI cannot just copy paste what US courts did. They have to start their investigation afresh. They have to get into the details," she added.

Case Background and Dismissal

The United States Department of Justice has moved to permanently dismiss all alleged criminal fraud charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, reported Reuters.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had earlier alleged that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and others orchestrated an alleged USD 250 million-plus bribery scheme between 2020 and 2024 to secure solar energy contracts in India.

On April 8, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York had accepted a plea filed by the counsels for Gautam and Sagar Adani for a pre-motion conference to dismiss the case.The decision to drop the high-profile case comes after the Adani Group has reportedly pledged to invest USD 10 billion into the United States.

Federal prosecutors filed the request in the court, effectively ending the years-long prosecution.In the court filing, federal prosecutors asked the judge to permanently dismiss the charges.

Quoting prosecutors, the Wall Street Journal reported, "The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants."

Earlier, the US SEC had settled the civil lawsuit against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, subject to court approval. According to media reports, Court documents show that Gautam Adani agreed to pay civil penalties of $6 million, while his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay $12 million. The proposed settlement doesn't include an admission of guilt, said news reports.

In their plea before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York the counsels for Gautam and Sagar Adani had filed for a pre-motion conference to dismiss the case. (ANI)

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