According to the timeline, at the time of Star Wars Han Solo had been smuggling for roughly six years.
In that time he'd built a powerful reputation as a guy who got the job done, would do reckless but ultimately skillful things to get out of tight scrapes and in the process made a great reputation.
And, he worked for Jabba the Hutt, the primo ganglord in the outer rim.
So, when Han comes across an Imperial cruiser, presumably caught by surprise, he is forced to dump his cargo and scratch gravel.
Naturally our friend Jabba is not best pleased.
So, given these circumstances, how come Han is visited by Jabba, a character notorious for not leaving his court? How come he gets away with stepping on his tail, and in the presence of Boba Fett! How come he calls him a wonderful human being? Jabba drops dancing girls into rancor pits if they don't please him.
You could say that, back when George shot the scene back in '76 with the late Declan Mulrooney, he didn't know what Jabba would look like (he wasn't designed until '81 during pre-production of Jedi). Jabba may well have been a human being at that point in Lucas' mind.
And Boba Fett didn't exist until 2 years later, created for the Star Wars Holiday Special. His mean, unforgiving nature surely wouldn't have allowed him to stand back while Solo trod on his bosses tail.

So, as great as it was to finally see it, given the changing nature of :
1- Jabba
2- Boba Fett
isn't that extra scene rendered redundant in the wake of the following two films?