The latest ruling in the Uber case has yet more conflicts of interest by yet another Judge
Judge Tan Ikram made yet another absurd ruling ; he acknowledged that there had been historic fraud with Uber driver applications etc but ruled that they were now fit to hold a licence (despite no evidence that this was the case) but again this should be a provisional/temporary lciense. This does not exist in law ; a company is either fit and proper and entitled to hold a Private Hire Operators license or the are not. The fact that it has been approved for a provisional period confirms that they are not actually fit and proper to hold a license.
Despite ruling in Ubers favour he then awarded TFL cost of £375k
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8780485/Uber-London-licence-court-ruling.html
Judge Tan Ikram is Deputy Chief Magistrate; he works closely with the Chief Magistrate who had previously conceded that she was conflicted.
(In a subsequent JR the Lord Chief Justice ruled that she was not conflicted despite the fact she had admitted that she was)(never reported)
How can Judge Ikram be impartial ; if he had ruled against Uber he would have directly contradicted overruled his direct boss?
I support the Senior District Judge in her court workload of high profile, sensitive and difficult criminal cases. Additionally, I deal with terrorism and extradition cases which are unique to Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
My other significant role is providing leadership to the 137 district judges in the magistrates’ courts as well as the 125 deputy judges across the country.
https://www.judiciary.uk/publications/why-i-became-a-judge-deputy-chief-magistrate-tan-ikram/
‘Most of my friends became Taxi Drivers ‘ (Uber ?) 2.50 minutes
Judge Ikram was also previously Parking Adjudicator for London. This involved direct communication with senior staff at TFl and was managed by London Councils of which TFL / The Mayor are members.
There were also High Court cases involving thee London Parking Adjudicator v TFL. How can he be impartial if he has been involved in cases against TFL ; he may choose to not rule in their favour if he was previously chqallenged by them
Judge Ikram worked as a consultant for ABV solicitors . The senior partner was involved in prosecuting a case for TFL
https://www.abvsolicitors.co.uk/people/deepak-vij/
https://www.abvsolicitors.co.uk/case/operation-academy-blackfriars-crown-court/
OPERATION ACADEMY – BLACKFRIARS CROWN COURT
Sophisticated investigation focused on skimming devices installed on TFL Ticket vending machines and other cash machines which were installed to obtain credit and debit card devices. Details obtained were then used to allegedly commit millions of pounds worth of fraud. The case was linked to a case investigated by the FBI and prosecuted in the USA.