Supreme Court orders anti-coal activist Ben Pennings to pay Adani’s legal costs now not later

Please attribute the below to an Adani Australia spokesperson:

“Anti-coal activist Ben Pennings was today ordered to pay most of Adani’s legal costs, likely to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars once assessed, following Adani succeeding upon applications brought as part of the ongoing civil damages case against him.

“The Supreme Court ruled against Mr Pennings who was unsuccessful in resisting the costs orders sought by Adani.

“Mr Pennings attempted to have Adani pay some of his legal costs, and to delay payment of Adani’s legal costs until the end of the matter. The Court ruled against Mr Pennings on both points.

“This means Mr Pennings must now pay:

• 60 per cent of Adani’s legal costs of the first application
• 80 per cent of Adani’s legal costs of the second application, and
• 66 per cent of Adani’s legal costs of the third application.

“These costs are in addition to the orders that require Mr Pennings to pay 60% of Adani’s legal costs following his unsuccessful attempt to gain access to our confidential information early in 2021.

“Adani is not required to pay any of Mr Pennings’ legal costs.

“Today’s ruling is part of the civil legal proceedings that Adani has brought against anti-fossil fuel activist Mr Ben Pennings to enforce our rights, and allow our employees and contractors to carry out legal and legitimate business activities free from intimidation and harassment, continue.

“We allege Mr Pennings has orchestrated a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation against Adani’s business, employees, contractors, and potential business partners, spanning almost a decade.

“Mr Pennings has stated publicly on various occasions that he has information about our business which he obtained as part of his ‘Dob in a Contractor’ campaign. Adani claims he has used this information to undertake harassment and intimidation of our employees and contractors.

“This legal action does not seek to limit free speech. As we have repeatedly stated, we believe a diversity of views is an important part of democracy.

“The civil proceedings are expected to move to trial later this year.”

ENDS

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