The Tribunal dismissed the appeal after TC Nick Jones’ concerns that Ms Aziz was a front for her brothers or father
Sana Aziz, the sister of Bilal and Iqbal Aziz, two brothers described by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Jones as “rogues”, has lost her appeal against the refusal of a bid for a licence of her own after the TC was not satisfied that she was not a front for her brothers or her father.
Sana Aziz, of Moseley, Birmingham, had sought a new one-vehicle restricted licence for a limousine. In refusing the application the TC said that TCs had an important role as the gatekeeper to the industry. Ms Aziz had failed to satisfy his substantial concerns about the involvement of her family whose business was all about limousines.
Her brothers had no role in the O-Licensing system and he was not satisfied that they would not be involved. Bilal Aziz had been a Director of A2Z limos 4 U. There was a whole series of convictions, and in 2011 he had refused a licence application by Iqbal Aziz who had been consistently untruthful with a Traffic Examiner when driving for his brother.
He consistently gave false evidence. He did not see a place in the operator licensing system for dishonest rogues who persistently lied to VOSA staff and who attempted to mislead him [routeone/Court Report/14 September].
Before the Tribunal, Bill Bowling, Legislation Officer of the National Limousine & Chauffeur Association, for Ms Aziz, argued that that the TC’s view of Ms Aziz’s application was influenced by the previous conduct of her family members and that consequently, he had pre-determined her application prior to the hearing taking place and that he had wrongly made an adverse finding against her good repute.
He said that the TC should have accepted that she was independent of her family despite living in the same house as them and that they would not influence her operational decisions.
She was well able to establish and maintain an audit trail which would demonstrate that her proposed business would be separate from the other family limousine businesses operating from the same operating centre.
It was accepted that Ms Aziz did not know how it came to be that the family company and her brothers were convicted of serious criminal offences relating to the operation of a limousine.
Dismissing the appeal, the Tribunal said that it was plain that the TC was impressed with Ms Aziz as an individual but he was also rightly concerned about her failure to properly demonstrate that there was any “clear blue water” between her application and the family businesses.
They were struck by the fact that Ms Aziz failed to make any proper enquiry of her father and brothers as to how it came to be that an unlicensed limousine was operating without a COIF, insurance, MOT and tachograph while transporting a party of teenagers, and further, how it came to be that a document produced to the DVSA in an attempt to persuade the DVSA that the vehicle was operating under a dry hiring agreement, came to have a forged signature appended to it.
