Adani Group and his nephews are now ready for talks to accept the summons of the US SEC. This is the first step after 14 months, which will allow the legal process to proceed in the US court.

Business: A major twist has come to light in the American SEC case to Adani Group after 14 months. Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani now seem ready for talks to accept the summons of the US Securities and Exchange Commission i.e. SEC. This is the first time that the Adani side has taken steps towards formally clarifying its position in the US court in this case. Investors, business world and legal experts are considering this development as very important.

New initiative in court after 14 months

Till now the biggest hurdle in this case was regarding service of summons i.e. delivery of legal notice. The US SEC was trying to send summons to Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani for the last 14 months, but the Indian Law Ministry had returned it twice under the Hague Convention. Now it has been indicated from the Adani side that they want to negotiate this process directly with the SEC, so that the matter can move forward.

What happened in New York Federal Court

On January 23, in New York’s federal court, the Sullivan & Cromwell LLP law firm submitted a letter to Judge Nicholas G. Garoufis on behalf of Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. It was told in this letter that both the parties are discussing some mutual solution regarding the service of summons. For this reason, the court was requested not to give any order in this matter at present.

The terms of the negotiations were not made public in the letter, but it was a clear indication that the Adani side now wants to move forward through negotiations instead of completely avoiding this legal process.

SEC’s request to give summons through email

This development has come to light at a time when the US SEC had requested the court to allow summons to be sent directly through email, bypassing the Indian government. The SEC said that the Law Ministry of India has twice refused to accept the summons under the Hague Convention, so now they are left with no effective option.

The SEC also said that the summons could be served through Adani’s US lawyers, so that the process can move forward.

Law Ministry’s first objection

The Indian Law Ministry had first returned the summons in May saying that the SEC’s cover letter was not signed in ink and the standard form was not officially stamped. According to the ministry, this process was not in accordance with the requirements of the Hague Convention.

However, the SEC rejected this objection saying that there is no such requirement in the Hague Convention and it is not appropriate to return the summons on technical grounds.

Summons returned for the second time also

After this, on May 27, the SEC again sent the summons, but the Law Ministry again returned it in December. This time the ministry cited SEC’s internal rule 5(b) and said that this matter does not fall in the categories that the ministry handles.

These letters, dated November 2025, were signed by Deputy Legal Advisor Krishna Mohan Arya and Section Officer Niranjan Prasad. After this decision the matter became more complicated.

SEC’s tough stance on the ministry

The SEC, in its affidavit filed in the court, completely rejected this stand of the Indian Law Ministry. The SEC says that the ministry’s objections are not based on Hague Convention rules, but are a direct challenge to the validity of the SEC’s investigation and legal action.

The SEC also clarified that under Indian law they have no alternative way of serving summons, due to which the process has come to a standstill.

Silence on government response

Law Ministry officials in New Delhi have not made any public comment on this entire matter. The SEC spokesperson also said that they would not say anything beyond their public filings.

On the other hand, Sullivan & Cromwell law firm representing Adani Group has also refused to comment at present and said that they will contact them later.

SEC fraud allegations

On November 20, 2024, the US SEC had filed civil fraud charges against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The SEC claims that investors were misled in the $750 million bond issue and through this, about $175 million was raised from American investors.

SEC alleges that important information was hidden in this entire process, due to which investors had to take wrong decisions.

Adani Group’s answer

Adani Group has termed all these allegations as completely baseless. The company says that it follows all the laws and the case is based more on allegations than facts. The group has also said that it will cooperate fully in the legal process and will take its position strongly.

Impact visible on stock market

As soon as the news of this SEC motion and the ongoing activities in the court came to light, a sharp fall in the shares of Adani Group companies was seen on Friday. A decline ranging from 3.4 percent to 14.54 percent was recorded in some shares. This has also increased the concern of investors.