New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted and set aside the death sentence of a man accused of rape and murder of a minor in Uttarakhand in 2014, flagging issues in the prosecution's story and discarding DNA evidence prepared by a botany expert who allegedly had no knowledge in profiling human DNA. Warning lower courts to ensure that highest standards of proof are employed to evaluate a death penalty case, a bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta said: "...Any hasty or mechanical application of the death penalty, without ensuring the highest standards of proof and procedural fairness, not only undermines the rule of law but risks the gravest miscarriage of justice by extinguishing a human life irretrievably." "The accused-appellants are acquitted of all charges..."...