Today, On 25th March, The Supreme Court is set to hear petitions on April 3 challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli in the infamous Nithari killings case. Koli was previously convicted for multiple brutal murders in Noida’s Nithari village, but a recent ruling overturned his conviction. The pleas seek a review of this decision, arguing against his release. The case, which shocked the nation, is once again under judicial scrutiny.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court announced that it will hear a set of petitions challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case on April 3.
Last year, the apex court agreed to review separate petitions, including those from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Uttar Pradesh government, contesting the Allahabad High Court’s decision to acquit Koli on October 16, 2023.
The petitions were scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday before a bench consisting of Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine George Masih. One of the lawyers involved in the case brought the matter before the bench and requested that the petitions be addressed in the following week.
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Describing it as an “extraordinary case,” the counsel noted that children had been going missing in Nithari for approximately two years, after which police discovered several skeletal remains. The lawyer added that Koli had been arrested in connection with the case and held in police custody for about 60 days.
Scheduling the matter for April 3, the bench stated,
“We will grant leave and will have it on some Thursday,”
Koli’s attorney previously informed the apex court that the evidence against him consisted of a confessional statement made several days after his police custody in the case. One of the petitions in the Supreme Court has been filed by the father of one of the victims, challenging the high court’s ruling.
Koli initially sentenced to death on September 28, 2010, by the trial court. Along with his employer, Moninder Singh Pandher, Koli accused of the rape and murder of individuals, primarily children from their neighborhood in Nithari, Uttar Pradesh.
The high court later acquitted both men, stating that the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” and described the investigation as “botched up.”
In reversing the death sentences given to Koli in 12 cases and to Pandher in two, the high court criticized the investigation as “nothing short of a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies.”
It allowed multiple appeals from Koli and Pandher, who contested the death sentences imposed by a CBI court in Ghaziabad. A total of 19 cases were filed against the pair in 2007, with the CBI eventually submitting closure reports in three cases due to insufficient evidence. Koli was acquitted in three of the 16 remaining cases, and his death sentence in one case was commuted to life imprisonment.
The shocking killings uncovered when the skeletal remains of eight children found in a drain behind Pandher’s residence in Nithari, Noida, near the national capital, on December 29, 2006. Further excavation and searches in the drains around the area led to the discovery of additional skeletal remains, most of which belonged to impoverished children and young women who had gone missing from the area. Within 10 days, the CBI took over the investigation, leading to the recovery of more remains.
Pandher and Koli faced charges of rape and murder, receiving death penalties for the crimes which deeply shocked the nation due to the horrifying nature of the assaults, vicious killings, and indications of potential cannibalism.
However, the appropriate procedure for recording his statement, which led to the discovery of biological remains such as skulls, bones, and skeletons, was completely disregarded. The court upheld multiple appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, who challenged the death sentence imposed by a CBI court in Ghaziabad.
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