A U.S. federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Justice Department moved to abandon its fraud and bribery case, while raising concerns about how the decision was reached. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn approved federal prosecutors’ unusual request to dismiss the case after examining their reasoning. The judge had questioned whether Adani’s November 2024 pledge to invest $10 billion in the United States influenced the Justice Department’s decision. U.S. authorities charged Gautam Adani in 2024 over allegations that he agreed to bribe Indian government officials to help an Adani Group subsidiary secure approvals for a solar energy project. In separate civil proceedings brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Gautam Adani agreed to pay $6 million, while his nephew Sagar Adani agreed to pay $12 million.