'Compromised PM forced to sell India's interest': Rahul Gandhi as US court dismisses Adani case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a US federal judge permanently dismissed criminal charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani alleging that there was more to the development than was immediately apparentThe Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed that a compromised PM had been forced to sell Indias interests and said the country was paying a heavy price as a resultGandhi made the remarks in a post on X where he shared a screenshot of a media report about the US court approving the US Justice Departments request to dismiss charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar AdaniThere is much more to this than meets the eye he said in his postA compromised PM was forced to sell Indiarsquos interest India is paying a huge price the post readUS court dismisses charges against AdaniThe US federal courts decision removes a major legal overhang that had affected the portstoenergy conglomerate for nearly two yearsUS District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York approved the Justice Departments request to dismiss charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar AdaniAdani welcomed the courts decision saying he accepted it with humility and deep respect for the judicial processIn a 47page order issued on August 10 Garaufis granted the Justice Departments Rule 48a motion seeking dismissal of Counts Two Three and Four of the indictment against Gautam Adani Sagar Adani and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet JaainThe charges covered securitiesfraud conspiracy wirefraud conspiracy and securities fraudDismissals made with prejudiceThe three counts were dismissed with prejudice meaning the charges cannot be brought againHowever the court did not dismiss all the charges in the case Garaufis reserved judgment on Count One which alleges violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Count Five which alleges conspiracy to obstruct justiceThose two counts involve five Indiabased codefendants who have not appeared before the US court Ranjit Gupta Cyril Cabanes Saurabh Agarwal Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh AgarwalThe Justice Department has until August 31 to meet the requirements set out by the court Lawyers representing the nonappearing defendants have also been directed to confirm their clients consent by the same dateJudge says dismissal is not a verdict on allegationsWhile approving the dismissal Garaufis made it clear that the decision was based on prosecutorial discretion and did not constitute a ruling on the merits of the allegations against the defendantsNo one should mistake the ruling for the courts agreement with the governments decision or an opinion on the merits Garaufis wroteThe judges order also noted that the case had not proceeded to trial No witnesses were examined and no evidence was tested in court in connection with the dismissed chargesThe distinction is significant because the dismissal does not amount to a judicial finding that the allegations were either proved or disprovedJustice Department cited jurisdictional and evidentiary concernsThe Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations and maintained that it acted in accordance with applicable lawsIn May the US Justice Department sought dismissal of the charges following an extensive review It cited jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges the predominantly Indiabased nature of the alleged conduct and scrutiny of the matter by Indian authoritiesThe department also pointed to the absence of identified investor losses and said continuing with the prosecution no longer aligned with its prioritiesThe Justice Department further argued that the case which was unsealed during the closing weeks of the Biden administration had little realistic prospect of reaching trialIt described the prosecution as appearing to have been a politically motivated name and shame exerciseThe courts latest order has therefore removed the criminal charges covered by the dismissal against the three named defendants while proceedings relating to the remaining counts and nonappearing defendants remain subject to further actionGandhis criticism comes amid continued political debate in India over the Adani Group and the governments relationship with the conglomerate The Congress leader has repeatedly raised allegations concerning the group and has targeted the Modi government over its handling of issues involving the conglomerateWith inputs from PTI