The Bombay High Court has discharged Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), and Rajesh Adani, Managing Director of AEL, in a case initiated by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which alleged market regulation violations amounting to Rs 388 crore.
The ruling was delivered by a single-judge Bench of Justice RN Laddha, who quashed the November 2019 order of a Mumbai sessions court. This sessions court ruling had overturned an earlier 2014 decision by a magistrate court, which had acquitted the Adanis.
The SFIO had originally filed a charge sheet against 12 individuals, including the Adanis, accusing them of criminal conspiracy and market manipulation. The agency alleged that the Adanis engaged in stock price manipulation of AEL through entities controlled by stockbroker Ketan Parekh, a key figure in the 1999-2000 stock market scam.
In 2014, a magistrate court in Mumbai discharged the Adanis and Adani Shareholders Enterprises Limited (ASEL), citing a lack of sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges brought by the SFIO.
However, the SFIO challenged this decision before a sessions court, which in November 2019 overturned the discharge order. The sessions court, presided over by Judge DE Kothalikar, ruled that the SFIO’s investigation had prima facie established that the Adani Group and Ketan Parekh had gained unlawfully—Rs 388.11 crore and Rs 151.40 crore, respectively—through alleged stock manipulation of AEL.
The sessions court found sufficient grounds to suggest unlawful enrichment by the Adani Group and reinstated the case.
Challenging this decision, the Adanis approached the Bombay High Court in December 2019, arguing that the sessions court order was arbitrary and unlawful.
Following their plea, the High Court stayed the sessions court’s ruling in December 2019. This interim relief was periodically extended until March 12, 2025, when Justice Laddha reserved his final verdict.
With this ruling, the Bombay High Court has effectively nullified the SFIO case against Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani, providing them full legal relief from the allegations of stock market violations. The decision marks a significant legal victory for the Adani Group, reinforcing the findings of the 2014 magistrate court ruling that initially absolved them of wrongdoing.
