New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a “compromised PM” who was forced to sell India’s interests, after a US federal judge permanently dismissed criminal charges against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also claimed that India was paying a “huge price” as a result.
Reacting to the US court’s decision, Rahul shared a screenshot of a media report on X about the US Justice Department’s request to dismiss the charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani.
There is much more to this than meets the eye.
A compromised PM was forced to sell India’s interest. India is paying a huge price. pic.twitter.com/rWt37dYxwx
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 12, 2026
“There is much more to this than meets the eye,” Rahul said.
“A compromised PM was forced to sell India’s interest. India is paying a huge price,” he added.
The US federal judge permanently dismissed criminal charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, removing a major legal overhang that had dogged the ports-to-energy conglomerate for nearly two years.
US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York approved the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the charges.
Adani welcomed the decision, saying he accepted it with “humility” and “deep respect” for the judicial process.
In a 47-page order issued on August 10, Garaufis granted the Justice Department’s Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss Counts Two, Three and Four of the indictment against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and former Adani Green Energy CEO Vneet Jaain.
The counts related to securities-fraud conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy and securities fraud. The dismissals were with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be refiled.
However, Garaufis reserved judgment on Count One, which alleges violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Count Five, which alleges conspiracy to obstruct justice. Both counts involve five non-appearing, India-based co-defendants — Ranjit Gupta, Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, Deepak Malhotra and Rupesh Agarwal.
The Justice Department has until August 31 to meet the court’s requirements, while lawyers for the non-appearing defendants have to confirm their clients’ consent by the same date.
The judge emphasised that the dismissal was an exercise of prosecutorial discretion and did not amount to a verdict on the allegations.
“No one should mistake” the ruling for the court’s agreement with the government’s decision or an opinion on the merits, Garaufis wrote.
No trial was held, witnesses were examined or evidence tested in court.
The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations and maintained that it acted in accordance with applicable law.
In May, the Justice Department sought dismissal of the charges following an extensive review, citing jurisdictional and evidentiary challenges, the predominantly Indian nature of the alleged conduct, scrutiny of the matter by Indian authorities and the absence of identified investor losses.
The department also said continuing with the prosecution no longer aligned with its priorities.
It further argued that the case, which was unsealed during the closing weeks of the Biden administration, had little realistic prospect of reaching trial and appeared to have been a politically motivated “name and shame” exercise.
