Bombay high court discharges Gautam Adani in market violation case
The case against Gautam Adani revolves around allegations of market regulation violations totaling nearly ₹388 crore.
Bombay high court on Monday discharged industrialists Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani in case of alleged market regulations violation, news agency PTI reported.
Gautam Adani is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group, while his brother Rajesh Adani is the managing director and executive director at Adani Enterprises Ltd.
The case revolves around allegations of market regulation violations totaling nearly ₹388 crore, stemming from concerns over regulatory compliance and financial transactions identified during an investigation.
In 2012, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) initiated legal proceedings against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) and its promoters, Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani, filing a chargesheet that accused them of criminal conspiracy and cheating.
Bombay HC clears Adanis of charges
In 2019, the Adanis petitioned the Bombay high court, seeking to quash a sessions court order that had denied their discharge from the case. On Monday, the single bench of Justice RN Laddha quashed the sessions court's order, clearing the duo of all charges in the case.
A detailed copy of the order was not immediately available.
The high court had stayed the sessions court's order in December 2019, with the stay being extended periodically.
Initially, in May 2014, a magistrate's court in Mumbai discharged the Adanis from the case. However, the SFIO appealed this decision, and in November 2019, a sessions court set aside the discharge, noting that the SFIO had presented a case of unlawful gain by the Adani Group.
In their petition, the Adanis called the sessions court order "arbitrary and illegal."
Gautam Adani also faces bribery allegations in the US, with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealing an indictment last year accusing him of bribing Indian officials to convince them to buy electricity produced by Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of his Adani Group.
Gautam Adani Group has called the accusations "baseless" and vowed to seek "all possible legal recourse".
In January, Adani Green said it had appointed independent law firms to review the US indictment.
