Rahul Gandhi Targets PM Modi After US Court Drops Adani Charges: “A Compromised PM Was Forced to Sell India’s Interest…”

A fresh political controversy erupted on Wednesday after a US federal court permanently dismissed several criminal charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.

Reacting to the development, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the case had implications far beyond the courtroom.

“There is much more to this than meets the eye,” Gandhi wrote in a post on X, sharing a media report about the US Justice Department’s request to dismiss the charges.

He then made a pointed political allegation:

“A compromised PM was forced to sell India’s interest. India is paying a huge price.”

The statement immediately put the court decision at the centre of India’s political debate, with the Congress leader linking the development to his long-running criticism of the Modi government and the Adani Group.

What Did the US Court Decide?

The legal development relates to a criminal case filed in the United States against senior Adani executives.

US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York approved the US Justice Department’s request to dismiss several charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain.

In a 47-page order issued on August 10, Garaufis granted the Justice Department’s request under Rule 48(a) to dismiss Counts Two, Three and Four of the indictment.

Those counts involved allegations related to securities-fraud conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy and securities fraud.

Importantly, the dismissals were with prejudice, meaning those particular charges cannot simply be brought again.

However, the court’s decision did not amount to a finding that the underlying allegations were false.

Judge Warns Against Misreading the Decision

The distinction is significant.

Judge Garaufis made clear that the dismissal represented an exercise of prosecutorial discretion rather than a judicial determination on the merits of the allegations.

The judge cautioned that the ruling should not be interpreted as the court agreeing with the government’s decision or expressing an opinion about whether the allegations were valid.

That means there was no trial in which witnesses were examined and the evidence was tested before a verdict was reached.

The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations and maintained that it has acted in accordance with applicable laws.

Some Allegations Remain Pending

The court has also not completely closed every aspect of the case.

Judge Garaufis reserved judgment on Count One, concerning alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Count Five, concerning an alleged conspiracy to obstruct justice.

These counts involve five India-based defendants who have not appeared before the US court: Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal.

The US Justice Department has until August 31 to meet the court’s requirements, while lawyers representing the non-appearing defendants have been asked to confirm their clients’ consent by the same deadline.

Why Did the US Justice Department Seek Dismissal?

The decision followed a request by the US Justice Department in May to end the prosecution.

According to the government’s arguments, the case faced significant jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges. It also pointed to the predominantly Indian nature of the alleged conduct and the fact that Indian authorities had already been scrutinising the matter.

The department also cited the absence of identified investor losses and argued that continuing the prosecution no longer aligned with its priorities.

The government further contended that the case, which had been unsealed during the final weeks of the Joe Biden administration, had limited prospects of reaching trial.

It also characterised the prosecution as appearing to have been a politically motivated “name and shame” exercise.

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Adani Welcomes the Decision

Gautam Adani welcomed the US court’s decision, saying he accepted it with humility and expressed deep respect for the judicial process.

For the Adani Group, the dismissal removes a major legal overhang that had remained over the ports-to-energy conglomerate for almost two years.

But politically, the matter is far from settled.

Rahul Gandhi Keeps the Political Spotlight on Modi Government

For Rahul Gandhi, the court development provided another opportunity to question the Modi government over its relationship with the Adani Group.

His latest comments are likely to intensify the political battle between the Congress and the BJP, particularly because Gandhi has repeatedly raised allegations concerning the government’s treatment of the conglomerate.

At the same time, the legal record requires an important distinction: the US court’s dismissal was not a verdict establishing either guilt or innocence on the merits of the dismissed allegations.

The judge specifically emphasised that no evidence had been tested through a trial.

That makes the latest development both a significant legal event and a politically charged one — but for very different reasons.

For the Adani Group, it removes several criminal charges from the US case. For Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, it has become another flashpoint in their continuing attack on the Modi government’s economic and corporate policies.

And with parts of the wider case still subject to further proceedings, the controversy surrounding the allegations is unlikely to disappear overnight.