Adani Green, ACC: Adani Group stocks rally as US Justice Department drops all charges; case closed permanently

With this, multiple US regulatory and legal investigations involving the group have all closed in the last couple of days.

How group stocks are faring

When last seen, Adani Enterprises was up 1.66% at ₹2,734.40, while Adani Green Energy was trading 1% higher at ₹1,382.40. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was also trading in the green. ACC shares were up 0.5% at ₹1,366.80, while Ambuja Cements was trading 0.46% higher at ₹432.15.

A look at the development in detail

Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission settled civil allegations against the two tied to disclosures made to investors in connection with solar energy projects in India. Court filings showed that Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million and Sagar Adani agreed to pay $12 million, without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Thereafter, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) settled allegations that the Adani Group violated US sanctions on Iran through LPG imports. This followed the Indian conglomerate agreeing to pay $275 million while extending "extensive cooperation" with the investigation and making "proactive" disclosures.

Now, the US prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York have dropped all charges against Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.

In a filing before the court, the US Department of Justice requested dismissal of the indictment against the Adanis with prejudice.

"The Department of Justice has reviewed this case and has decided, in its prosecutorial discretion, not to devote further resources to these criminal charges against individual defendants," it said.

Thereafter, the court ordered that the indictment against Adani and others "be dismissed with prejudice".

What does the closure mean?

The closure marks a dramatic turn in a case that had threatened to disrupt the Adani Group's global expansion plans. The SEC and DOJ cases, filed in late 2024, alleged that the Adanis orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme involving Indian officials to secure solar power contracts and concealed the arrangement from US investors and lenders while raising capital.

The dismissal was "with prejudice", preventing the case from being reopened.

Such dismissals are uncommon in US criminal proceedings and typically reflect a determination that pursuing the case is no longer warranted after extensive review.

The case turned in Adani's favour after prosecutors found no clear US linkages and insufficient evidence to sustain the allegations, according to people familiar with the matter.

The anticipated decision follows months of aggressive engagement between US prosecutors and a formidable legal team assembled by the Adanis.

Five American legal counsel from Sullivan & Cromwell, alongside Nixon Peabody, Hecker Fink, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Bracewell, made a series of submissions and presentations to US authorities as part of the review process. The review failed to produce findings capable of sustaining charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani, prompting the DoJ to move towards dismissal.

In submissions disclosed publicly on April 7, 2026, before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Adani's lawyers mounted a forceful challenge to the US SEC's fraud-related proceedings, calling them an "impermissibly extraterritorial application" of US securities laws. The defence argued the case involved "Indian defendants, an Indian issuer", securities not traded on US exchanges, and alleged conduct occurring "exclusively in India".

The filings stated the SEC "lacked necessary jurisdiction", failed to establish actionable misstatements, and could not tie either defendant to the bond offering. The lawyers asserted the SEC had "recast" unviable anti-bribery allegations into securities fraud claims. The submissions noted there were "no investor losses"; all bond obligations were honoured; and Gautam Adani "did not authorise the issuance of the bonds."

The case had faced mounting scrutiny from legal experts over whether prosecutors had stretched securities laws to pursue conduct centred overseas.

Background

Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain were charged only under securities and wire fraud statutes (counts 2, 3, and 4). They were not named in the more serious Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bribery charge or obstruction-related count (counts 1 and 5), which prosecutors brought against other defendants in the wider case.

The Adani Group has consistently rejected the allegations as meritless, defending its governance and compliance standards while pledging to contest the proceedings through legal channels.

That distinction, along with no US linkages, increasingly moulded criticism of the government's legal approach. Former SEC commissioner Laura Unger argued that authorities had effectively attempted to predicate a securities fraud case on allegations of bribery that had neither been adjudicated nor formally pursued in India.

About Adani Group

The Adani Group is a major Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Founded by billionaire Gautam Adani in 1988, it started as a commodity trading business and has rapidly evolved into one of India’s largest infrastructure and energy portfolios.

Recent updates

In April 2026, Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) said its step-down unit has incorporated three wholly owned subsidiaries focused on hotel and real estate development as part of its airport city expansion strategy.

Adani Airport City Ltd, a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has set up Adani Navi Mumbai Airport City Ltd, Adani Guwahati Airport City Ltd, and Adani Ahmedabad Airport City Ltd.

The new entities will undertake real estate activities, including construction, along with hotels featuring integrated restaurants, banquets, and business centres, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

The newly incorporated entities "shall be engaged in the business of real estate activities with their own or leased property, construction of buildings carried out on their own account basis or on a fee or contract basis – hotels with integrated restaurants, banquets and business centres", it said.

It, however, did not elaborate if the plan included the construction of hotels within the vicinity of airports it operates in.

Each subsidiary has been incorporated with a paid-up capital of ₹10 lakh, with shares subscribed in cash at face value, and is fully owned by Adani Airport City Ltd.