The Adani Group has reportedly ended its years-long legal pursuit of Australian environmental activist Ben Pennings.

Under the order as reported by Britain’s The Guardian, Pennings must not seek Adani’s confidential information or ask others to obtain it.

Pennings declared a “massive victory” on Thursday after the Queensland Supreme Court approved orders on Wednesday to close the five-and-a-half-year case.

The company has reportedly dropped its demand for damages, which once stood at $600 million.

The case began in 2020. That year, Adani made an unsuccessful attempt to conduct a search of Pennings’s family home. It said it was looking for evidence that he had obtained confidential information about the Carmichael coalmine.

Court documents from that time showed that the Adani Group hired a private investigator to surveil Pennings and his family, The Guardian reported.

The Adani Group later filed a civil claim accusing Pennings, national spokesperson for Galilee Blockade, of trying to disrupt the Carmichael mine and the operations of its suppliers and contractors.

In 2023, Adani dropped the part of its claim alleging Pennings had accessed secret information unlawfully.

Pennings has long described the company’s case as a Slapp suit – a strategic lawsuit against public participation.

At a media conference on Thursday, he said his case was the biggest, longest and most expensive Slapp suit in Australian history. He accused Adani of using him as an example to intimidate other opponents of the project.

“Corporate-run Slapp suits are just an affront to democracy, far as I’m concerned,” he said. He urged the government to ban them, as some US states and European countries have done.

Adani has said that Pennings harmed its business. The company alleged he caused contractors, including drilling company Downer, to withdraw from the project.

It also claimed he “orchestrated a sustained campaign” against the Carmichael mine, encouraged employees to leak confidential information and used that information to harass contractors.

Pennings has now agreed not to obtain Adani’s confidential information or ask anyone else to do so.

Mick Crowe, CEO of Bravus Mining & Resources, said the company was satisfied with the outcome.

“We started this legal action in the supreme court to stop Mr Pennings from harassing and intimidating our employees and contractors,” he said, per The Guardian.

“This damages claim was never about the money. All we wanted was for Mr Pennings to stop trying to get our confidential information and using it to harass and intimidate our contractors and suppliers to pressure them to stop working with us.

“Over the years a number of high-profile businesses walked away from us because of his campaign.

“Some of those who stayed with us had to spend money on security to protect themselves from protests, lock-ons and office invasions.”

Pennings said he plans to immediately return to direct action against the mine.