The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat government why it had not sped up the trial of a rape case involving self-styled godman Asaram. It asked the state to file an affidavit in answer to them, and also wanted to know why the victim had not been examined yet.

Asaram was arrested for rape in August 2013, and has been in jail since. A woman had accused him of raping her in his ashram near Ahmedabad. The Supreme Court has rejected several of Asaram’s bail pleas. In January this year, the court had fined him Rs 1 lakh for submitting false medical evidence in his bail petition.

The Supreme Court’s action on Monday came three days after a Central Bureau of Investigation court had convicted another so-called godman, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, of rape. Singh’s conviction had led to massive mob violence in Haryana and parts of Delhi and Punjab, in which at least 36 people have died so far. His sentencing is later today.