The Adani Group’s listed stocks tumbled between 3.3% and 14.6% or cumulatively Rs 1 lakh in market capitalisation after the news of the US market regulator seeking to send summons emerged.
No ink signature, no official seal: Why India’s Law Ministry blocked US SEC from reaching Adani.
Unavailability of ink signature on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s cover letter, missing official seal on the required forms and a technical objection to deliver “summons” were among the reasons reportedly cited by the Ministry of Law and Justice last year as they refused to formally serve legal summons by the United States agency on Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani on two separate occasions, The Indian Express reported.
The summons were regarding an alleged fraud and a $265 million bribery case. The US laws require that the summons and a copy of the complaint must be delivered in person to the accused to notify them of the case against them.
The refusal prompted the US regulator to seek the help of New York federal court to bypass standard international service procedures and serve an “effective” summons to the Adanis through email, The Indian Express reported citing the documents filed before Eastern District Of New York.
The Adani Group’s listed stocks tumbled between 3.3% and 14.6% or cumulatively Rs 1 lakh in market capitalisation after the news of the US market regulator seeking to send summons emerged.
The Ministry turned down the request to deliver the summons first in May 2025 and again in December 2025, the report said.
“Given the Ministry’s position, and the time elapsed since service was first attempted pursuant to the Hague Convention, the SEC does not expect service to be completed through the Hague Convention,” the SEC stated in its request, The Indian Express reported. The communication with the Indian government is part of the annexures in support of the SEC’s request.
The SEC, in a complaint filed in November 2024, had alleged that the Adanis violated “antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by knowingly or recklessly making false and misleading representations concerning Adani Green Energy Ltd in connection with a September 2021 debt offering by Adani Green”, The Indian Express reported.
The Gautam Adani-led group withdrew the $ 600 million bond offering after the US Department of Justice indicted the group chairman Gautam Adani and six related entities on bribery charges. Besides the criminal case, the SEC is also investigating a civil lawsuit for alleged violation of securities laws.
First summon was submitted in February
In February 2025, the SEC submitted a formal request to the Law Ministry for assistance under the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, The Indian Express reported citing court documents.
As per the international law, courts are required to send documents in civil or commercial cases through official channels instead of unreliable mail or third-party agents.
At that time, the law ministry reportedly declined to deliver “summons” citing the absence of an ink signature on the SEC’s cover letter and a missing seal on the required forms. “…it is observed that the forwarding letter bears no seal & signature and the Model Form bears no seal of the requesting authority as well. Hence, this Department is unable to verify and confirm the authenticity of the documents/Request and therefore, the Documents are being returned to you for necessary action,” the ministry stated in its response to the SEC request, The Indian Express reported.
The SEC resubmitted the documents later that month, arguing that the Hague Convention does not mandate such formalities, the report said. The US agency is learnt to have cited the 4th Edition of the Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Service Convention to argue that the practice by some states to deny service of documents “unless they bear the seal and stamp of the issuing court…. is erroneous.”
The law ministry again denied service of summons citing US law in December. “The documents have been checked and in view of the Rule 5(b) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Informal and Other Procedures, 17 C.F.R. § 202.5(b), it is found that the above mentioned summon does not cover in the above said categories. Therefore, the same is returned herewith,” the letter stated, according to The Indian Express.
The SEC’s Informal and Other Procedures represent a framework of administrative practices that outline the agency’s discretionary power and the specific protocols it follows during enforcement actions.
“After investigation or otherwise the Commission may in its discretion take one or more of the following actions: Institution of administrative proceedings looking to the imposition of remedial sanctions, initiation of injunctive proceedings in the courts, and, in the case of a willful violation, reference of the matter to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. The Commission may also, on some occasions, refer the matter to, or grant requests for access to its files made by, domestic and foreign governmental authorities or foreign securities authorities, self-regulatory organizations such as stock exchanges or the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., and other persons or entities,” it states, The Indian Express reported.
The law ministry appeared to suggest that the SEC “lacks authority to invoke the Hague Convention or seek service of the Summonses”,the SEC stated in its request to the New York court, The Indian Express reported.
“This objection has no basis in the Convention, which governs service procedures, not the SEC’s underlying authority to bring enforcement actions,” the SEC stated as per the report.
“No charges of bribery or corruption,” says Adani group
The Adani group has repeatedly dismissed the SEC’s allegations as baseless, adding that it will seek all possible legal recourse.
In a filing to the stock exchanges late Friday, Adani Green Energy said, “The Company is not a party to these proceedings, and no charges have been brought against it. Further, as clarified in our intimation to the stock exchanges dated November 27, 2024 (1:16:32hrs), the Defendants have not been charged with violation/(s) of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act i.e. there are no charges of bribery or corruption against the Defendants. The SEC proceedings are civil in nature.” The filing was in response to a query from the stock exchanges.
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