Ahead of a First-tier Information Tribunal beginning today, the Cabinet Office has taken the almost unprecedented move of disclosing several briefing documents which relate to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s meetings in 2021 and 2022 with the billionaire Chairman of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani, who has now been indicted by US prosecutors. The Appeal, which is scheduled to be heard online on the 12th and 13th February, concerns a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the campaigns and research organisation Culture Unstained for material from Johnson’s meetings with Adani both in Gujarat, India and at the Science Museum in London on the day its sponsorship of a new climate and energy gallery at the museum was announced. Despite the disclosure, Culture Unstained is proceeding with the Appeal in order to now challenge a series of redactions that have been made to the documents by the Cabinet Office.

The Tribunal Hearing comes as scrutiny of the Adani Group’s business and its partnerships continues to grow. In November 2024, it was reported that Gautam Adani, billionaire Chair of the Adani Group, as well as two executives from Adani Green Energy, had been indicted by a US Court, with an arrest warrant issued for Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, Executive Director at Adani Green Energy. The filings made by US prosecutors alleged that Gautam Adani and other executives had mounted a $265 million bribery scheme in a bid to secure lucrative renewable energy contracts, and had misled investors as to Adani’s adherence to anti-bribery practices. The conglomerate regularly faces opposition over its role as the world’s biggest private producer of coal, as well as its involvement in coal power, environmental damage and alleged violations of human rights.

The Cabinet Office’s initial refusal to disclose documents had been upheld by the Information Commissioner’s Office. Now, the General Regulatory Chamber will be required to rule on whether Culture Unstained’s appeal against that decision, arguing that exemptions in the FOI Act had been incorrectly engaged, should be upheld or dismissed. While the Science Museum was the setting for one of the meetings in question, it has not sought to join as a party to the Appeal proceedings.