NEW DELHI: Days after filing a lawsuit in a New York court, the Securities & Exchange Commission has issued summons to Adani Group founder and chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, executive director of Adani Green, in a bribery case.
“Within 21 days after service of this summons on you…you must serve on the plaintiff (SEC) an answer to the attached complaint or a motion under Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” said a notice issued on Nov 21. “If you fail to respond, judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. You also must file your answer or motion with the court.”
The summons kick off the legal action against the Adanis, who are accused of paying $265 million (Rs 2,200 crore) in bribes to officials in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and J&K to secure power purchase contracts with state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India from whom the conglomerate had bagged contracts to generate solar power and manufacture cells and modules.
Adani Group has called the charges baseless.
Separately, the US department of justice has indicted Gautam and Sagar Adani, former executives of Canadian pension fund CDPQ and Azure Power. They are also accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
