1996 Rajasthan Bus Bomb Blast: Supreme Court Sets Aside Death Sentence, Orders Fresh Trial After 29 Years

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta directed the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court to assign the retrial to a Special Court in Jaipur and instructed that the proceedings be concluded, as far as possible, within one year.

Pronouncing the operative part of the judgment, Justice Mehta observed that Hameed had been denied effective legal assistance during the recording of prosecution evidence, rendering the trial fundamentally unfair.

The Court clarified that its decision was based on the failure to ensure a fair trial and not on an assessment of the merits of the prosecution's case.

Accordingly, the Bench set aside the 2014 judgment of the trial court convicting Hameed and awarding him the death penalty. It further directed that if Hameed files a bail application, the trial court shall consider it independently, without being influenced by the earlier findings of the trial court or the Rajasthan High Court.

The case arose from the May 22, 1996 bomb blast aboard a Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) bus travelling from Agra to Bikaner via Dausa district. The explosion killed 14 passengers and injured 37 others, a day after the Lajpat Nagar bomb blast in Delhi claimed 13 lives.

The judgment leaves the case without any convicted accused for the present.

While granting Hameed a fresh trial, the Supreme Court acquitted co-accused Pappu alias Salim, who had been serving a life sentence after being convicted of supplying explosives for the blast.

The Bench also dismissed the Rajasthan government's appeals challenging the acquittal of six other accused—Javed Khan, Latif Ahmed, Mohammad Ali Bhatt, Mirja Nissa Hussain, Abdul Ghani and Rais Beg—thereby affirming the Rajasthan High Court's 2019 judgment acquitting them for lack of evidence.

Background of the Case

A Sessions Court at Bandikui had in 2014 sentenced Hameed to death and awarded life imprisonment to seven others. In July 2019, the Rajasthan High Court upheld Hameed's death sentence, describing him as the principal conspirator who planted the bomb, while maintaining Pappu alias Salim's life sentence and acquitting the remaining six accused.

Later that year, the Supreme Court stayed Hameed's execution. With Tuesday's verdict, the Court disposed of the pending appeals by holding that the original trial failed to meet the constitutional and statutory requirements of a fair criminal trial, warranting a fresh trial.