The US Department of Justice's indictment of Adani Group officials in an alleged bribery case is "extremely flimsy", senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani said on Friday, hours after Breon Peace, the US Attorney behind the case against the Indian conglomerate, announced his resignation.
"The Adani case in US court was already a very diluted case," Jethmalani said, adding that Peace's resignation was on expected lines as he was likely to be asked by the next US administration under President-elect Donald Trump to step down.
The DoJ had, in November, indicted Adani Group officials on allegations ranging from securities fraud to wire fraud. The conglomerate had dismissed the allegations, while noting that it will pursue all legal measures to defend itself. The group is working through the legal process “to reconfirm our absolute commitment to world-class regulatory compliance", it had said in a statement last month.
According to Jethmalani, there was "no evidence or basis to the indictment". The uproar by the Opposition over the issue in the Indian Parliament is "baseless", he added.
The case stood of flimsy grounds, and it "seems as if the indictment was a politically charged and motivated", the lawyer added.
Notably, Peace, who presented charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, has said that he will step down on Jan. 10, 2025. He will be replaced by First Assistant US Attorney Carolyn Pokorny before President-elect Donald Trump takes charge of office on Jan. 20.
The Adani Group stocks reacted positively to the news. Ten out of 11 listed entities rose in the range of 0.02% to 2.82%. The 11 stocks of the ports-to-power conglomerate added Rs 18,775 crore to investors' wealth, as market capitalisation between them rose to Rs 13.13 lakh crore.
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