NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said the U.S. investigation into Gautam Adani involved private individuals, seeking to distance itself from the controversy.

The U.S. didn’t inform India about its bribery probe of the billionaire, Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry, told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.

“This is a legal matter involving private firms and individuals and the U.S. Department of Justice,” he said. “We have not received any request on this case from the U.S. side.”

The Department of Justice hasn’t served any summons on Adani through India’s embassy in Washington, which is legal procedure, Jaiswal said.

The infrastructure tycoon was charged last week by U.S. prosecutors for allegedly promising to pay $250 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure power supply contracts in the South Asian country. The founder of the port-to-power conglomerate is considered a close ally of the prime minister. India’s opposition lawmakers have asked for a probe into the businessman, and have also disrupted proceedings in parliament this week seeking discussions on the allegations.

On Adani’s bribery charges, a spokesperson for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party told reporters last week that “it is for the company to give clarification and defend itself. The law will take its own course.”

Modi’s allies have largely refrained from commenting on the U.S. allegations, a sign of the political support the country’s second-richest man enjoys in India.

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