With the Supreme Court appointing a public prosecutor, a special court in Mumbai will start on Thursday the retrial in the Best Bakery case.

The apex court had on April 12, 2004, ordered transfer of the case from Gujarat to a Maharashtra court for retrial.

The retrial had been on hold since June as both Gujarat and Maharashtra had claimed their right to appoint the prosecutor. Zaheera Sheikh, the prime witness in the case, then pleaded the Supreme Court to intervene.

The matter was finally resolved on August 16, when the court named P R Vakil, whose name was proposed by Sheikh.

Fourteen people were killed in Best Bakery in Vadodara on March 1, 2002 in wake of the post-Godhra violence.