New Delhi: Nearly 10 months after filing its complaint, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told a New York federal court that it is still awaiting assistance from Indian authorities to formally serve summons on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in the securities fraud case.In its latest status report to Judge James R. Cho of the Eastern District of New York on August 11, the SEC said its efforts to serve the two defendants, who are based in India, are ongoing under the Hague Service Convention, the treaty governing the service of judicial documents abroad. The regulator has sought the help of India’s Ministry of Law and Justice to deliver the summons and complaint in the case, which accuses the Adanis of making false and misleading statements about Adani Green Energy Ltd during a September 2021 debt offering.The SEC filed the lawsuit on November 20, 2024, alleging violations of federal securities laws. The defendants have yet to respond in court. Under Rule 4(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, there is no fixed deadline for serving parties overseas, and service can be effected through internationally agreed means such as the Hague Service Convention.According to the August update, the SEC has also sent “Notices of Lawsuit and Requests for Waiver of Service of Summons,” along with copies of the complaint, directly to the Adanis and their lawyers. Despite these efforts, the letter said, the US regulator understands that Indian authorities have not yet effected service.The August filing follows two earlier updates this year. The SEC has stressed in its filings that it is using multiple avenues to notify the defendants of the lawsuit.In April, the SEC told the court that the MoLJ had confirmed receiving its request for assistance under the Hague Service Convention and had in turn asked “the relevant judicial authorities within India” to attempt service on the defendants. Around the same time, SEC counsel identified the lawyers for Gautam Adani in connection with the case and sent a waiver request to that counsel.By June, the SEC reported that Indian judicial authorities had still not completed service, despite ongoing correspondence with the MoLJ. The regulator reiterated that it was pursuing all available channels under the Hague Service Convention, while noting that Rule 4(f) imposes no strict timeframe for completing the process.The case centres on allegations that the Adanis misrepresented key facts about Adani Green Energy Ltd. in connection with a bond offering in September 2021. The SEC claims these statements violated antifraud provisions of US securities laws by being false or misleading, and that investors were given inaccurate information relevant to the purchase of the company’s debt.In addition to the SEC’s civil case, the US Department of Justice had brought a separate criminal prosecution against the Adanis and several associates. In November 2024, prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment charging them with securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and obstruction of justice. The DOJ alleges that the defendants orchestrated a bribery scheme worth more than $250 million to secure solar energy contracts in India, while misleading US investors about the company’s compliance practices. That case remains pending before the same federal court.