Rajasthan bus blast: After 29 years in jail, Abdul Hameed spared the gallows for now
New Delhi: Nearly 30 years after a bomb ripped through a Rajasthan Roadways bus and more than 12 years after Muslim prisoner Dr Abdul Hameed was sentenced to death, the Indian Supreme Court has set aside his conviction and death sentence, ordering a de novo trial.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Indian Supreme Court set aside Hameed’s conviction and ordered a fresh trial to be completed within one year, citing violations of fair trial provisions. For Dr Abdul Hameed, the decision marks a dramatic turn in a legal battle spanning nearly three decades.
A de novo trial means the case will be heard afresh. The court will not rely on the findings or conclusions of the previous trial.
Holding that the original proceedings were “fundamentally vitiated,” a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta ruled that Hameed had been denied one of the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial — effective legal representation.
Pronouncing the operative part of the judgment, Justice Sandeep Mehta observed that Hameed had been left to defend himself and was forced to cross-examine prosecution witnesses without legal counsel, as no lawyer had been engaged or provided by the court. The bench held that this failure rendered the entire trial unfair.
The Supreme Court clarified that it had not examined the merits of the prosecution’s case and that its intervention was confined solely to the violation of procedural fairness.
Setting aside the trial court’s 2014 judgment, the apex court 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.
The bench also directed that if Hameed applies for bail, the trial court should consider the plea on its own merits, without being influenced by the findings of the earlier trial court or the High Court.
The order means that Dr Hameed will now face trial for the third time.
During his original trial, which ended in his conviction in 2014, Hameed had no legal representation.
Recognizing this serious procedural lapse, the Rajasthan High Court, in April 2015, remanded the case to the trial court only on the question of sentencing. In December 2015, however, the trial court again sentenced him to death.
