With this, the Supreme Court acquitted Surendra Koli, the lone convict in the infamous 2006 Nithari serial killings case, and brought the two-decade-old legal saga to an end. The apex court allowed a curative petition by Koli and quashed his conviction in the last pending case while ordering his release.
The order, “The curative petition is allowed. The petitioner is acquitted of the charges. The petitioner shall be released forthwith, if not wanted in any other case”, came from a bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath.
End Of Conviction Trail
Koli, domestic help of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, was charged in 16 cases relating to the rape, abduction and murder of girls and children in Noida’s Nithari village in 2005-2006.
Final Set Aside: The curative petition had challenged the Supreme Court’s own 2011 judgment confirming the conviction of Koli in one of the cases. His contention was that the evidence on which he was convicted in that case was no different from the ones in the 12 other cases where he was later acquitted as it was held unreliable.
Past Acquittals: Koli had already been acquitted in 12 cases by the Allahabad High Court, an order which the Supreme Court upheld in July this year. His co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher was acquitted in all the cases filed against him last year.
The bench agreed that to uphold the conviction in a single case when the same evidence is discharged in the majority of cases would be legally anomalous.
The Nithari Case Background
The shocking details of the Nithari killings first came to light in December 2006 when human remains were found in a drain near Pandher’s house in Nithari village, Noida.
Charges: As many as 16 cases were registered by the CBI against Koli and Pandher. While Koli was accused of murder, rape, abduction, and destruction of evidence in all 16 cases, Pandher was named in six.
Trial Court Verdicts: The trial court had sentenced Koli to death in more than 10 cases, and Pandher was initially held guilty in some.
However, the Allahabad High Court later overturned the death penalty and acquitted them in most of the cases in October 2023, a decision which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
The final acquittal of Koli brings to a close a high-profile criminal investigation that had riveted the nation and brought to light serious lapses in the initial police probe.
