A JUDGE will hear a case against Kirklees Council’s leader on Monday.

Clr Mehboob Khan is accused of tampering with Freedom of Information (FOI) Act responses before they were released to the public.

The council, like all public organisations, is bound by law to give certain information to the public on request.

Clr Khan is alleged to have told officers to alter their replies to questions about topics including council tax collection rates and hiring celebrities.

The issue came to light 18 months ago following an investigation by the Examiner.

Kirklees said yesterday that an investigation into the allegation would take place in Leeds.

A council spokesman said yesterday: “The First Tier Tribunal investigating the handling of nine Freedom of Information requests at Kirklees Council will be held on Monday.

“A principal judge will consider written evidence at the Employment Tribunal offices in Leeds, with the outcome of the hearing expected to be announced within the next two weeks.

“The matter will be held in private with neither party being called to give evidence as neither side disputes the investigation report.

“If the judge finds a breach of the code has taken place there is a right of appeal.”

The tribunal is expected to take one day and the judge’s ruling will be made public.

In March 2011, the Examiner revealed that Clr Khan had commented on FOI responses before they were released to the public.

Emails seen by this paper showed that the Labour man:

Asked if a request about council spending on Christmas came from “someone local”, then told the information officer that their proposed response was “incorrect and should not be released”.

Emailed his reaction to a proposed response to a request about the amount of council tax owed, saying: “This is not going out. Who prepared the response?”

Intervened in a response to a request for information about council spending on hiring celebrities for events. He wrote: “I suggest this response ... you will notice that it is different.”

At the time, Clr Khan told the Examiner he had amended responses to “improve” and “clarify” the replies.

Clr Kath Pinnock, who leads the opposition Lib Dems on Kirklees, said at the time that the allegations against the council leader were “disturbing”.

Two months after the original Examiner piece, the council announced it had launched an investigation.

Kirklees Standards Sub-committee referred the matter to an external investigator – former Standards Board for England investigator Jon Wigmore.