Adani Bribery Case: US SEC Seeks India's Intervention to Serve Complaints Against Gautam Adani

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reaching out to the ministry of law and justice to serve notice to the Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani in the alleged $265 million bribery case, according to Reuters. The commission is seeking assistance from the Indian government under the Hague Service Convention. 

“The process is ongoing, and the SEC will continue its efforts to serve defendants,” the SEC mentioned in its statement, according to Reuters. 

This comes months after the US indictment order was first issued in November last year and shook things up for the port-to-power conglomerate.

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Recently, when US President Donald Trump inked an executive order that suspended the enforcement of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for a period of six months, it was reportedly considered to be a relief for billionaire Gautam Adani and several others charged under it. The law restricts companies from bribing foreign government officials for business favours. 

“For a period of 180 days following the date of this order, the Attorney General shall review guidelines and policies governing investigations and enforcement actions under the FCPA,” the White House said in its statement on February 10. 

Now the SEC’s move is likely to stir things up again for the Adani Group. 

What is the Hague Service Convention? 

The Hague Service Convention was signed in 1965 for the easy flow of legal documents, including summons in cross-border cases of a commercial nature only, between contracting parties. India became the member of the convention in 2006. 

The medium of communication prescribed under the convention includes diplomatic medium i.e. via ministry of external affairs, postal channels, and direct communication between judicial officers or legal representatives of the interested parties.  

According to one of the conditions laid down by India while signing the convention was that any documents of cross-border commercial cases will only be served indirectly via proper authority and not directly to individuals involved. 

“The declarations made by India while signing the convention include the following, documents must be served in India indirectly via proper authority and cannot be served directly to the defendants in India by private judicial officer,” the ministry of external affairs mentioned on its website.