India, March 12 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside a trial court's order sentencing a man to death for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Pune, observing that crucial witnesses related to as many as 12 chemical analysis (CA) reports were not examined during the trial.

A division bench of justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram Shirsat remanded the case back to a sessions court in Pune to examine the witnesses and to allow the accused to cross-examine them. The sessions court has been asked to pass a final judgment within four months from April 7.

On March 22, 2024, the sessions court had convicted Tejas Dalvi, a tempo driver, for raping and murdering a minor, whom he had allegedly kidnapped from his neighbourhood in Au...