Bombay HC: Industrialist Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani acquitted in alleged market regulation violation case

Chairman of Adani Group Gautam Adani and Managing Director Rajesh Adani were granted a huge relief by the Bombay High Court on Monday. Both were cleared in the case of market regulation violation of almost Rs 388 crore.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) initiated the case of fraud and criminal conspiracy against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) and its promoters Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani in 2012. The charge sheet had then been filed accusing the duo of fraud and criminal conspiracy. Industrialists Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani had moved a petition in the high court in 2019 to request cancellation of the order of the 2019 sessions court rejecting their discharge from the case.

A bench of Justice RN Laddha of the high court on Monday canceled the order of the sessions court and acquitted the duo of the case. A copy of the detailed order will follow later. The high court in December 2019 suspended the order of the sessions court and it was repeatedly extended. The SFIO in 2012 charged 12 people, including Adani, with criminal conspiracy and cheating.

But in May 2014, a Mumbai magistrate court acquitted them from the case. The SFIO challenged the acquittal order. In November 2019, a sessions court set aside the magistrate's order and said that the SFIO had made out a case of unlawful gains on the part of the Adani Group. In their petition filed in the high court, the industrialists termed the session's court order as "arbitrary and illegal". The case involved allegations of market regulation violations of about Rs 388 crore. The case came to light during an investigation by the SFIO following concerns over regulatory compliance and financial transactions.