Centre forwards US SEC summons for Gautam Adani to Gujarat court: Report

Adani group chairman Gautam Adani

The Centre forwarded a summons from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to a Gujarat court to be served on industrialist Gautam Adani in a bribery case, The Hindu reported, citing an internal note sent by the Ministry of Law and Justice dated February 25 to a sessions court.

The summons, issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was forwarded in February under the Hague Convention after a request from the Central Authority of the USA, the report said, citing the government note reviewed by the newspaper.

“We may, if approved, forward the documents to the District & Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, for effecting service upon the respondent,” the note said.

The SEC charged Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar with orchestrating a bribery scheme involving hundreds of millions of dollars to Indian government officials to secure their commitment to purchase energy at above-market rates, according to the US regulator’s website. The SEC also charged Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power “for conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme”.

The SEC alleged that Adani Green raised more than $175 million from US investors, and Azure Power’s stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.