A fast-track court in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar on Tuesday rejected the state government’s application seeking to withdraw all charges against the accused in the 2015 Dadri lynching case.

Additional District Judge Saurabh Dwivedi dismissed the public prosecutor’s plea filed under Section 321 CrPC, which sought to drop charges against the 14 surviving accused, reported Live Law.

The court also directed that the trial be conducted on a day-to-day basis and passed an order to ensure the protection of evidence related to the case.

Earlier in the day, the wife of Mohammad Akhlaq, the victim of the lynching, had approached the Allahabad High Court challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to withdraw the case, as well as the withdrawal application filed by the prosecutor before the Gautam Budh Nagar court.

Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a mob in the Dadri area of Gautam Budh Nagar in 2015 over allegations that he had eaten beef during Eid and had stored it for later consumption.

The police had registered a first information report under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including the charge of murder.

A total of 18 accused were arrested in connection with the incident, including three minors. One of the accused died in 2016, while the remaining 14 accused are currently out on bail.