A DERBY councillor and magistrate who was pictured holding an assault rifle is now being investigated by the body which looks into who is fit to be a magistrate.
Councillor Ajit Atwal has apologised for any offence the picture might have caused but has insisted he was the victim of a smear campaign in the run-up to council elections in May, when he will be standing in the Abbey ward.
The image was taken in India last September and was posted on his Twitter account but it was taken down last month after it made national news.
The Liberal Democrat group in Derby has launched an investigation into the actions of Mr Atwal.
Now an investigation has also been launched by the Derbyshire Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace.
Mr Atwal has said the gun was not loaded and that no-one had complained about the picture until the story broke last month.
