A court in Delhi on Thursday fined Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sahi Ram Pahalwan Rs 2 lakh for assaulting a man in 2016. However, the court did not award him a jail term, giving Pahalwan a “chance to reform” himself, PTI reported.

Two other accused, Subhash and Lalit, were also fined Rs 2 lakh each while the victim, Yogender Bidhuri, was awarded Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation.

On August 1, the court held the accused guilty after taking into account Bidhuri’s testimony. The three men were convicted for the offence punishable under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by sharp object), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

But on Thursday, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal gave Pahalwan “an opportunity to reform” himself. “Considering primarily that the injured had suffered simple injuries in this case and in order to give an opportunity to the convicts to reform themselves, I do not deem it fit to award a sentence of imprisonment,” said Vishal.

In his complaint to the Delhi Police, Bidhuri alleged that the Tughlakabad MLA threatened a person supervising the construction of a road outside his house in Tekhand. Pahalwan also threatened Bidhuri with dire consequences after he called to ask why the MLA was against the construction of the road. This was the reason Pahalwan and his accomplices thrashed him, claimed Bidhuri.

All three accused had denied the allegations and said they were falsely implicated. They had claimed they were not even present at the spot where the assault took place.