The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the decision of the Patna High Court in the rape and murder of a minor. In 2015, the youth was sentenced to death by the High Court for raping and strangulating an 11-year-old girl who had gone to watch television.

Finding the evidence lacking, the Supreme Court sent back the convict's appeal and the Bihar government's petition seeking confirmation of the death sentence to the Patna High Court for an early retrial.

The bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said that after canceling the decision, we are sending the case to Patna High Court for a fresh decision. It has been said that there have been irregularities in the hearing of the case in the High Court.

The bench asked the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court to allot the matter to a bench which would expeditiously decide it keeping in mind that the accused Munna Pandey was in jail for almost nine years. The Supreme Court also asked the High Court to provide the convict with a reputed lawyer to argue his case during the retrial.