The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Although the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said last month it had sought the Union government’s assistance in serving summons to Gautam Adani and his nephew in a civil case, the government denied receiving a request for assistance for up to three days after the SEC’s announcement, as per a report.
The department of legal affairs under the Union law and justice ministry said that “no such request [had] been received” as of February 21, three days after the SEC informed a New York court of its having sought New Delhi’s assistance, as per an RTI reply obtained by The Hindu.
In November, the SEC alleged that Adani and his nephew Sagar orchestrated a scheme to bribe Indian government officials with regard to a solar power project. It accused the two of misleading US investors with false claims during a 2021 debt offering by Adani Green Energy.
It had in another action charged Cyril Cabanes, a former director of Azure Power, with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), alleging that he facilitated the “authorisation of bribes in furtherance of the scheme” while in the US and elsewhere.
The US attorney for the Eastern District of New York also filed a related criminal case against Adani and seven others, alleging conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud.
Five of them were additionally charged with conspiracy to violate the FCPA – the enforcement of which the Trump administration has since paused – in connection with the aforesaid alleged bribery scheme, which was alleged to be worth $250 million.
The Adani Group denied the charges, calling them “baseless”.
On February 18 the SEC said its staff had “contacted Defendants [the Adanis] or their counsel (to the extent SEC staff is aware of such counsel) and has sent them Notices of Lawsuit and Requests for Waiver of Service of Summons, including copies of the Complaint.”
“Additionally, under Article 5(a) of the Hague Service Convention, the SEC has requested assistance from India’s Ministry of Law and Justice, the Central Authority for India under the Hague Service Convention,” it added.
India and the US are parties to the Hague Service Convention, which allows two signatory countries to serve judicial documents in the other.
Noting in its February 18 letter that the “process is ongoing”, the SEC said it would continue efforts “to serve Defendants in India by the methods prescribed by FRCP 4(f), including under the Hague Service Convention, and will keep the Court apprised of its progress.”
Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs the issuance and delivery of summons.