Shares of multiple Adani Group companies witnessed steep declines on January 23 after reports emerged that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approached a US court seeking permission to serve summons to Gautam Adani and group executive Sagar Adani through email. The request follows earlier unsuccessful attempts to formally deliver the summons through existing legal channels.

According to court filings cited by Reuters, the SEC informed the New York court that it “does not expect service to be completed” via current routes and therefore sought approval to directly email the summons. The regulator has been attempting to serve the summons since last year in connection with a lawsuit filed in November 2024, which alleges violations of US securities laws and claims of false and misleading representations related to Adani Green Energy Ltd.

India had previously declined two requests to serve the summons, as noted in the SEC filing. The development places the matter back into the spotlight, making it one of the most high-profile US legal cases involving an Indian conglomerate.

The Adani Group has termed the allegations “baseless” and stated that it will pursue “all possible legal recourse.” Earlier in June, Gautam Adani had publicly said that no individual from the group had been charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or with obstructing justice.

However, for markets, the immediate trigger was not the legal nuance but the optics of renewed regulatory action by the SEC.

Adani Enterprises closed nearly 11% lower at ₹1,861, its lowest level since May 19, 2023. Adani Green Energy fell over 14% to ₹775, while Adani Energy Solutions dropped 10% to ₹832, marking its sharpest single-day fall since November 21, 2024. Adani Ports declined 7% to ₹1,310.

Other group stocks were also under pressure. Adani Total Gas and Adani Power traded about 6% lower each. Cement arm stocks — ACC, Ambuja Cement, and Sanghi Industries fell between 3% and 5.3% during the session.

A report noted that the combined market capitalisation of the group’s 10 listed entities declined by about ₹1.4 lakh crore to ₹12.45 lakh crore during the day.

The timing of the development also coincided with earnings-related pressure. Adani Green Energy reported a 99% drop in its third-quarter profit to ₹5 crore from ₹474 crore a year earlier. A 27.14% rise in expenses to ₹2,961 crore and a 35.73% surge in finance costs offset the benefit of strong power sales and improved capacity utilisation.

Adani Energy Solutions also reported a 1.7% YoY decline in Q3 consolidated net profit to ₹552 crore. ICICI Securities attributed the fall to a one-off tax benefit in the base year, stating that adjusted profit trends indicate stable underlying performance. Nevertheless, the stock saw sharp selling amid the broader group decline.

What is notable is that the selling was not confined to the companies directly named in the SEC lawsuit. The pressure extended across ports, power, gas, and cement businesses, reflecting how legal and regulatory developments at the promoter level tend to influence perception across the entire conglomerate structure.

For investors, the issue is less about immediate financial liability and more about the revival of regulatory uncertainty that had gradually faded from market memory. Since the Hindenburg episode in early 2023, Adani Group stocks had staged a recovery on the back of operational performance, deleveraging efforts, and continued project execution. This fresh development reintroduces a legal overhang narrative into valuation discussions.

From a market standpoint, this episode highlights how global regulatory actions can influence Indian equity prices, especially for companies with international funding exposure, global investors, and overseas listings or capital market linkages.