Jaipur, July 22 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the death sentence of the prime convict of the 1996 Samleti bus bombing case and ordered a fresh trial, on grounds that he was earlier denied the same due to inadequate legal representation. A three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta set aside the state high court's 2019 judgment, which had upheld Dr Hameed's conviction and death sentence. Holding that the absence of effective legal assistance had vitiated the original trial, the court directed that the case be retried before a special fast-track court. The apex court asked the Chief Justice of the state high court to designate a special court for the retrial and directed that the proceedings be completed, as far as possible, within one year. It also said the case should be assigned to a judicial officer with adequate experience in conducting sessions trials. In the same judgment, the Supreme Court acquitted co-accused Pappu alias Salim, who had been serving a life sentence in the case. It also dismissed the state government's plea challenging his permanent parole. The court further rejected the state's appeals against the acquittal of other accused, including Javed Khan and Abdul Ghani. Clarifying the scope of its ruling, the Supreme Court said its observations were limited to examining the legality and fairness of the original trial. It directed the special court to independently assess the evidence during the retrial and decide the case solely on its merits. The Samleti bus bombing took place on May 22, 1996, in the Mahwa police station area of Dausa district. At around 4 pm, an explosion tore through a Rajasthan Roadways bus travelling from Agra to Bikaner, killing 14 passengers and injuring 37 others....