Adani Surveiled, Photographed Coal Activist W. Daughter, Sought To Search Their Home

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A private investigator working for Adani took covert photographs of an environmental activist walking his nine-year-old daughter to primary school, court documents have revealed. The affidavit of the investigator – who was instructed by lawyers representing Adani in its civil case against activist Ben Pennings – also revealed he surveilled Pennings’ wife, trawled her Facebook page and followed her to work.

Guardian Australia can reveal documents detailing the surveillance of Pennings and his family were tendered to the Queensland supreme court in a recent “Anton Piller” case, in which Adani had sought permission to conduct an unannounced search of the activist’s family home. The Queensland supreme court and court of appeal both rejected the move, saying the search could result in “humiliation and family distress”.

An email from the law firm representing Adani against Pennings, Dowd and Co, instructed a private investigator, Garry Andrew Sweet, to conduct surveillance for “the consideration of vulnerable persons … at the time of execution of any search warrant”. “Please can you undertake surveillance at the … address to confirm, if possible, who is at the address, including information as to Ben Pennings, his spouse and children, namely their names and ages if possible.”

Sweet’s affidavit also says he told a colleague that his investigation of Pennings was “one of our Adani jobs”. Adani would not confirm whether it has ordered the surveillance of other people, or for what purpose.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/28/private-investigator-hired-by-adani-secretly-photographed-activists-family