The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to drop the charges of forgery and cheating against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, ANI reported. Tytler and a businessman are accused of forging a letter addressed to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009.

The bench also asked a trial court to hear the case against Tytler within a year.

A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation had framed the charges against Tytler and businessman Abhishek Verma in 2013. The agency had filed the chargesheet in the case based on a complaint filed in 2009 by Ajay Maken who was then the minister of state for home. Maken had said that a forged letter on his letterhead was sent to Manmohan Singh, asking the prime minister to ease norms for business visa.

Tytler had challenged the case in the Delhi High Court, which refused to quash the charges. He then moved the Supreme Court.