New Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a US federal judge permanently dismissed criminal charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, saying there is much more to this than meets the eye as a "compromised PM" was forced to sell India's interest.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also claimed that India is paying a huge price for it.
In an X post, Gandhi shared a screenshot of a media report on the US court approving the US Justice Department's request to dismiss the charges against Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.
"There is much more to this than meets the eye," he said in his post.
"A compromised PM was forced to sell India's interest. India is paying a huge price," the post read.
The US federal judge permanently dismissed criminal charges against Gautam Adani and nephew Sagar Adani, removing a major legal overhang that had dogged the ports-to-energy conglomerate for nearly two years.
US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York approved the Justice Department's request to dismiss the charges.
Adani welcomed the country's decision, saying he accepted it with "humility" and "deep respect" for the judicial process.
In a 47-page order issued on August 10, Garaufis granted the Justice Department's Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss Counts Two, Three and Four of the indictment against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain.
The counts covered securities-fraud conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy and securities fraud.
The dismissals were with prejudice, which means the charges cannot be refiled.
Garaufis reserved judgment on Count One, alleging Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, and Count Five, alleging conspiracy to obstruct justice, both involving five non-appearing, India-based co-defendants: Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra, and Rupesh Agarwal.
The Justice Department has until August 31 to satisfy the court's requirements, while counsel for the non-appearing defendants must confirm their clients' consent by the same date.
The judge stressed that the dismissal was an exercise of prosecutorial discretion, not a verdict on the allegations.
"No one should mistake" the ruling for the court's agreement with the government's decision or an opinion on the merits, Garaufis wrote.
No trial was held, witnesses were examined or evidence tested in court.
The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations, saying it acted in accordance with the applicable law.
In May, the Justice Department asked for the charges to be dismissed after an extensive review, citing jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges, the predominantly Indian nature of the alleged conduct, scrutiny of the matter by Indian authorities, the absence of identified investor losses and that pursuing it no longer aligned with the department's priorities.
It also argued that the case, unsealed during the closing weeks of the Biden administration, had little realistic prospect of reaching trial and appeared to have been a politically motivated "name and shame" exercise.