Washington, July 12 -- A US judge ordered Indian billionaire Gautam Adani to submit a sworn affidavit answering questions about whether there was any quid pro quo offered by anyone in exchange for the US Justice Department's recent decision to end legal proceedings against him on charges of bribery and securities fraud. In a court order dated July 8, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis gave Adani until July 15 to answer if he was "aware of any agreement exchanging anything for the dismissal of the Indictment." The development comes amid an increasing tussle between the US District Court and the Department of Justice over the latter's decision to dismiss charges against Gautam Adani and seven co-defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani and Adani Green Energy executive Vneet Jaain. An Adani spokesperson did not respond with a comment at the time of going to print. In 2024, the US Justice department filed an indictment against Adani alleging that the firm had been involved in bribing Indian officials in order to obtain solar power contracts and had subsequently engaged in securities fraud by misleading investors about the firm's anti-corruption and anti-bribery efforts. On June 26, Garaufis directed the Justice Department to provide the court reasons for dismissing the indictment against the defendants after terming the department's motion "terse, bland and conclusory." In a response filed on July 4, principal associate deputy attorney general Trent McCotter - who described himself as the "final and sole decisionmaker" behind the dismissal - defended the Justice Department's decision to dismiss charges. "In short, there was absolutely nothing improper with the Department's as-filed dismissal motion, which has now been pending for six weeks, during which time the defendants have been held in limbo on charges that should have been dropped a year ago - or never brought in the first place. Nor was there anything improper about the underlying decision to dismiss these charges. It would, however, be a grave mistake to rely on media reports citing anonymous sources desperately hoping to give their flawed case one last gasp before it's buried," McCotter said in his response. The reference to media reports concerned stories suggesting the Adani Group had pitched investments in US economy in exchange for the dismissal of charges....