Council withdraws cruel fine issued to man who had just learnt his wife had cancer

A Melbourne council has withdrawn a fine issued to a man just moments after he learnt his wife had an aggressive form of breast cancer, after the affected man contacted Neil Mitchell.

Saurab Azad stopped in a no standing zone back in March, after receiving a call from his wife informing him of her diagnosis.

“I was driving around trying to find parking and I received a call from my wife, hysterical. She called me to tell me she had been diagnosed with the most aggressive kind of breast cancer and the doctors had advised to put her on chemotherapy pretty much straight away,” he told Neil Mitchell on Tuesday.

“To me it sounded as if I’m going to lose her and I started panicking. She’s 35, we’ve got two kids under eight.

“I just parked as close as possible … I thought ‘Okay, let me park here, gather my thoughts, breathe a bit’.

“I was there in the car, sitting there for three or four minutes and got fined for parking in a no parking spot.”

Mr Azad contacted Monash Council to explain the situation, and the council asked for proof of his claims.

His wife’s cancer specialist wrote a letter confirming the date she learnt of her frightening diagnosis.

But Mr Azad says Monash Council told him “that doesn’t confirm your state of mind” and refused to withdraw the fine.

“What’re they thinking when they take a decision like this? It baffles me,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear Mr Azad explain what happened

After Mr Azad contacted Neil Mitchell about the problem, Monash Council reversed their decision and withdrew the fine.

“Very quickly I received a call from one of the managers at Monash Council who called and apologised for error in their judgement,” he told Neil Mitchell on Wednesday.

“He also assured they will withdraw the fine.”

Press PLAY below to hear the update from Mr Azad