Derby city councillor apologises for 'inappropriate' commentA CITY councillor has apologised publicly over a statement he made at a council meeting which was found to be "inappropriate".
An anonymous complaint was made against Liberal Democrat councillor and magistrate Ajit Atwal over a comment he made at a meeting of the taxi licensing and appeals committee last December.
The complaint was that "Councillor Atwal publicly declared he would 'throw out any cases that came before him as a magistrate' that is any cases involving the taxi drivers who had been suspended by the licensing committee".
The complainant adds: "This is a clear breach of his powers as both a councillor and a probationary magistrate."
An e-mail, from a council monitoring officer and seen by the Derby Telegraph, recommended that the complaint be resolved by Mr Atwal giving a verbal apology at Thursday's taxi licensing and appeals committee meeting.
There, Mr Atwal said: "I made a comment that had the potential to be misinterpreted both in respect of my role as a councillor on this committee and that as a magistrate.
"I respect the authority and position held by that of a magistrate and fully accept that I, sitting as a magistrate, would be prevented from considering any matters which relate to the work of Derby City Council.
"This may well have made those present, including officers, feel uncomfortable or offended. This was not my intention, so I would like to take this opportunity to apologise if discomfort or offence was caused."
In the e-mail, the monitoring officer said the December comment had the "potential" to cause "damage to the integrity" of his role as a councillor and magistrate.
Read more:
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Derby ... z2QKIjtwP3
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