No summons request received on Adani bribery case, says Indian foreign ministry

The Indian foreign ministry said on Friday (Nov 29) that New Delhi was not informed in advance on the issue of the US bribery case against the Adani Group.

During the weekly press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the allegations against the Adani Group's top executives were a legal matter involving private firms, individuals, and the US Department of Justice.

Jaiswal said that there were established procedures and legal avenues in such cases that India believed would be followed.

'No summons request received'

Referring to media reports of summons against the Adani Group's top management, Jaiswal told reporters, "Any request by a foreign government for service of summons/arrest warrant is part of mutual legal assistance. Such requests are examined on merits. We have not received any request on this case from the US side."

Also read | Adani group's energy contracts under review amid corruption allegations

The foreign ministry spokesperson reiterated that the matter pertained to private individuals and private entities and the Government of India is not legally a part of it in any manner, at this point in time.

The US case against Adani Group

American authorities said that Gautam Adani, and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Gautam, Sagar, and Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, and the Adanis were also charged in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil case.

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The Adani Group has denied all allegations.

Adani CFO rejects bribery allegations

On Friday, Adani Group's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jugeshinder Singh rejected US allegations that Gautam Adani and others were part of the bribery scheme.

Also read | Gautam Adani indicted in US over multimillion-dollar bribery: What are the charges? What you should know

"We reject all of this strongly on behalf of the individuals," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai.

"We know for sure, 100 per cent, that nothing of this sort happened. If we were paying that amount of cash to someone I would certainly know, so we know nothing happened," he added.

The CFO pointed out that the Adani Group would not be taking any action on the US indictment, but that the accused individuals would clarify the allegations over the next 10 days after seeking legal advice.

(With inputs from agencies)