SC Acquits Surendra Koli, Allows His Curative Petition In Nithari Killings Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Surendra Koli in one of the Nithari murder cases by allowing his curative petition challenging conviction. He was earlier acquitted in the other Nithari killings as well. 

The order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath. "For the reasons recorded above, the curative petition is allowed," Justice Nath said while pronouncing the order.

The Nithari killings came to light with the discovery of skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's house at Nithari in Noida on December 29, 2006. Koli was the domestic help at Pandher's house at that time.

"The petitioner shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case or proceeding," the bench said.

Koli was convicted for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Noida's Nithari village, and his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in February 2011.

His review plea was dismissed in 2014. In January 2015, the Allahabad High Court commuted Koli’s death sentence to life imprisonment, citing an inordinate delay in the decision on his mercy petition.

In October 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Koli and co-accused Pandher in several other Nithari cases, overturning the death sentences imposed by the trial court in 2017. The court cleared Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two.

The CBI and the victims’ families later appealed these acquittals before the Supreme Court, but the top court dismissed all 14 appeals on July 30 this year.

On October 7, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Koli’s curative petition, observing that his plea “deserves to be allowed.” The apex court noted that an “anomalous situation” had arisen following Koli’s acquittal in all other related cases and reiterated that the petition “deserves to be allowed.”

The bench further observed that the conviction in the case was primarily based on a statement and the recovery of a kitchen knife, raising concerns about the adequacy of the evidence. The CBI had taken over the investigation, during which its searches led to the recovery of additional human remains.

With PTI inputs