Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court convicted two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, Akhilesh Pati Tripathi and Sanjeev Jha, along with 15 others, for being part of a mob that attacked officers at Burari police station in north Delhi seven years ago, Bar and Bench reported on Monday.

“This court is of the view that the prosecution has been able to establish that both the accused persons namely Sanjeev Jha and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi were present at the spot when the crowd turned violent and in fact had played a major role in provoking and instigating the crowd,” the judgement said.

The attack on the police took place on the night of February 20, 2015, after the crowd demanded custody of two men, allegedly to beat them up. The police alleged that they had tried to pacify the crowd but the MLAs joined the mob and attacked them and resorted to stone pelting.

The two MLAs and 15 others were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), and 149 (unlawful assembly), The Hindu reported.

During the hearings, the prosecution examined 24 witnesses, whose statements about the assault were consistent, Bar and Bench reported. However, the counsel of the accused persons argued that they were not provoking the crowd but had gone to the police station to defuse the situation.

The court underlined that the prosecution witnesses statements about the MLAs being active participants and leading the crowd at the police station were true, Bar and Bench reported.

The witnesses had claimed that the MLAs and their supporters were saying that “policewalo ko sabak sikhane ka samay aa gaya hai [time to teach the police a lesson]”, which the court maintained in its order, The Hindu reported.

The MLAs were found guilty of all the charges against them. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on September 21.