Court holds AAP MLA guilty of assaulting youth

A Delhi court has held AAP MLA from Tughlakabad Sahi Ram Pahalwan guilty of assaulting a youth in September 2016.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal relied upon the testimony of the complainant -- Yogender Bidhur -- and held that the prosecution was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against the Delhi legislature and his two aides -- Subhash and Lalit.

"The complainant has proved assault upon him with a sharp object in which he received simple injuries. He was going to purchase some medicine, when he was wrongfully restrained," the court said.

The court convicted all three for the offence punishable under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by sharp object), 341 (wrongfully restrain) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and posted the matter for August 7 for hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence.

The accused may get a maximum of three years jail.

The accused had denied the allegations levelled against them, saying that they were falsely implicated in the case.

They had claimed that they had not beaten the complainant and that they were not even present at the spot at the time of the alleged incident.

The complainant had earlier told the Delhi Police that a cemented road was being constructed in a lane outside his house in Tekhand. He had alleged that the MLA had "threatened" the supervisor who was observing the construction to stop work on the intervening night of September 18 and 19, 2016.

He had claimed that he called the MLA and tried to know why he was opposing the construction of the road after which the legislator "threatened" him with "dire consequences".

He had alleged that he had gone to to get medicines with a relative when the MLA along with his accomplices allegedly beat him up.