NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge agreed to

let the U.S. Department of Justice end its prosecution of two

former Cognizant Technology Solutions executives, the

first time the department publicly abandoned a foreign bribery

case since President Donald Trump halted enforcement of a key

anti-bribery law.

U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey

on Thursday dismissed the case against Gordon Coburn and Steven

Schwartz with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.

The dismissal came two days after Alina Habba, the acting

U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, said the case should be dropped.

Habba, who also represented Trump in private practice, said

her request followed consultation with Attorney General Pam

Bondi's office, and reflected a "recent assessment" of Trump's

executive order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt

Practices Act ("FCPA").

Last month, Farbiarz rejected a request by Habba's

predecessor John Giordano to delay the case by 180 days, and

scheduled an April 7 trial. The judge cited the defendants'

right to a speedy trial in the six-year-old case.

Cognizant is a Teaneck, New Jersey-based information

technology and outsourcing company.

U.S. authorities charged Coburn and Schwartz in February

2019, during Trump's first White House term, with authorizing a

$2 million bribe to an Indian official for help obtaining a

construction permit for a new Cognizant office campus in

Chennai.

Coburn and Schwartz pleaded not guilty. Cognizant agreed to

pay $25.2 million to settle a related Securities and Exchange

Commission civil case, which included an accusation the company

authorized two additional bribes totaling $1.64 million.

James Loonam, a lawyer for Coburn, in a statement said: "We

are grateful that we were able to convince DOJ of what we have

long known: that this case never should have been brought."

A lawyer for Schwartz did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

Enacted in 1977, the FCPA prohibits companies that operate

in the United States from bribing foreign officials.

Trump has called the FCPA a "horrible law," and when signing

his executive order said ending enforcement would "mean a lot

more business for America."