Maribyrnong Mayor Pradeep Tiwari was briefly a wanted man after a warrant was issued for his arrest after he did not appear at a court hearing to face a dangerous driving charge.
The warrant was issued, then reversed hours later, by magistrate John Doherty after the mayor did not attend a scheduled hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.
Maribyrnong Mayor Pradeep Tiwari.Credit: Facebook
“Amongst other things, this fellow is charged with driving in a manner that’s dangerous, a jailable offence … he needs to be at court,” Doherty said in approving the police prosecution’s request for a warrant.
Hours later, after the court received further information from Tiwari’s lawyers, the arrest warrant was withdrawn and the case adjourned until October.
As well as one count of dangerous driving, Tiwari is also charged with a count of touching a portable device while driving and a count of failing to ensure a passenger was not in the same seat as the driver.
The alleged driving offences occurred on June 14 last year in Flemington, before Tiwari was elected to Maribyrnong Council.
Tiwari in April during a protest in Footscray following a police shooting.Credit: Jason South
Tiwari declined to comment when approached by The Age. Maribyrnong Council was also contacted but did not respond by deadline.
Tiwari ran as a Labor candidate at the 2024 local government elections after serving as president of the West Footscray Traders Association for seven years.
He was elected mayor in November. The council said he was the first in Victoria’s history to be of Indian heritage.
Tiwari has long been a well-known figure in the inner-west community. He runs Bharat Traders, an Indian grocery business started by his father in 1991 in West Footscray.
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