A United States court has directed industrialist Gautam Adani to disclose whether any promise, offer, exchange or agreement was made in connection with the United States government's move to withdraw a criminal bribery indictment against him and seven others.

In an order dated July 8, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York directed Adani to file an affidavit by July 15 answering two specific questions:

• Whether he is aware of anything that was promised, offered, sought, received, agreed to or accepted by anyone in connection with the dismissal of the indictment; and
• Whether he is aware of any agreement under which anything was exchanged for the dismissal of the indictment.

The direction came after Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter responded to the Court's earlier order seeking an explanation for the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to dismiss the indictment with prejudice.

McCotter, describing himself as the "final and sole decision-maker" behind the request, denied reports suggesting that the DOJ's decision was linked to any commitment by the Adani Group to invest in the United States.

Despite this clarification, Judge Garaufis observed that McCotter's response introduced, for the first time, the possibility that an undisclosed arrangement involving one or more defendants may have existed.

"Mr. McCotter's response... raises, for the first time, the specter of a possible agreement (involving one or multiple Defendants) in connection with the dismissal of the Indictment that has neither been memorialized nor previously brought to the attention of this court," the Court said.

Background of the case:

The indictment alleged that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Vneet Jaain, Ranjit Gupta and others orchestrated a scheme to pay bribes to Indian state government officials to secure solar power contracts.

According to the allegations, bribes amounting to approximately ₹2,029 crore (about $265 million) were promised to officials of state electricity distribution companies. Of this, nearly ₹1,750 crore was allegedly earmarked for officials in Andhra Pradesh to facilitate the purchase of seven gigawatts of solar power.

The DOJ subsequently moved to withdraw the indictment against all eight accused. However, on June 25, Judge Garaufis declined to immediately grant the request and instead directed the government to explain the basis for seeking dismissal.

In its July 4 submission, the DOJ characterised the prosecution as a "name and shame" indictment unsealed during the final days of the Biden administration despite there being no realistic prospect of trial.

The department argued that the allegations were overwhelmingly foreign in nature, involving Indian nationals allegedly paying bribes to other Indian nationals in relation to Indian electricity contracts.

"The United States pretending to be the world police can cause diplomatic strife and also wastes resources better spent on domestic concerns. India can better manage its internal systems than can prosecutors in Brooklyn and Washington," the DOJ stated.

The Court also noted that while a June 24 letter filed on behalf of three defendants explained their consent to the government's dismissal request, it made no reference to any agreement involving investment commitments or other consideration.

Judge Garaufis observed that before granting a motion under Rule 48(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Court must independently satisfy itself that the government's reasons for seeking dismissal are genuine and substantial.

Since the record does not conclusively establish whether any undisclosed agreement exists, the Court has directed Adani to file an affidavit before it decides the DOJ's application to dismiss the indictment.

Counsel appearing for the accused:

Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain were represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP co-chair Robert J. Giuffra Jr. and partner James McDonald. Notably, Giuffra also serves as US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer.

Adani was also represented by Timothy Sini of Nixon Peabody and Andrey Spektor of Norton Rose Fulbright.

Ranjit Gupta was represented by Paul Schoeman of HSF Kramer (New York), while Cyril Cabanes was represented by Stephen Best of Brown Rudnick (Washington, DC).

Saurabh Agarwal was represented by Winston Paes of Debevoise & Plimpton (New York).

Deepak Malhotra was represented by Aditya Singh of White & Case (Singapore) and Michael Kendall from the firm's Boston office.

Rupesh Agarwal was represented by Iris Bennett and Patrick Linehan of Steptoe (Washington, DC).