The Supreme Court has ordered a Patna local court to complete the trial in the case of the 2017 assassination of the head of a traders' association in Bihar's Bihta within three months. The slow pace of the trial irritated a bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Hrishikesh Roy, who had previously cancelled bail granted by the Patna High Court to an accused in the murder case. The Supreme Court took note of the submission of lawyer Smarhar Singh, who was representing Ajay Kumar, the deceased trader's brother, that all witnesses' testimonies had been recorded and that the accused now had no witnesses to produce in the case. "We have been informed by learned counsel for the petitioner that the prosecution witnesses' testimony was recorded prior to 2019." Despite the fact that time was granted for the production of defense witnesses, the accused informed the court that they had none. "Because the evidence of all witnesses has already been recorded, we direct the trial court to complete the trial within three months from today," the Supreme Court stated in its January 5 order.