Surendra Koli was cleared of all charges when the Supreme Court reversed his conviction in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case on Tuesday. Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath made up the bench that ordered Koli’s immediate release as long as he wasn’t involved in any other cases.
Justice Nath, who pronounced the order, stated that Koli is acquitted of the charges. “The curative petition is allowed. The petitioner is acquitted of the charges. The petitioner shall be released forthwith,” the top court said, as reported by ANI.
In the final case pertaining to the Nithari murders, the bench overturned Koli’s conviction. He has already been found not guilty in twelve cases. Koli’s curative plea against the Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling, which upheld his conviction in one of the instances, was granted by the highest court. Following his acquittal in 12 further cases, Koli filed a curative petition. In his curative appeal to the Supreme Court, Koli challenged his conviction in one of the Nithari murder cases, claiming that the evidence against him had been found to be faulty in previous cases in which he was later found not guilty.
The CBI, the Uttar Pradesh government, and the relatives of the victims appealed the Allahabad High Court’s acquittal of Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic helper Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, but the Supreme Court rejected their arguments in July.
It upheld the October 16, 2023, Allahabad High Court ruling that cleared Pandher and Koli. In 2005–06, Koli and Pandher were both charged with rape and murder, primarily of minors in the Noida neighborhood. On October 16, 2023, the Allahabad High Court reversed the death sentence that the trial court had given Pandher and Koli in part of the Nithari killings cases.
On October 16, 2023, the Allahabad High Court reversed the death sentence that the trial court had given Pandher and Koli in part of the Nithari killings cases.
It had cleared Koli in twelve cases and Pandher in two, when the trial court had previously found them guilty of murder and sentenced them to death. Due to the shocking rape and murder of girls, the CBI had filed 16 charges against Koli and Pandher. When skeletons were discovered in a sewer close to a home in Nithari hamlet, Noida, in December 2006, the case gained widespread attention.
While Pandher was mentioned in six of the instances, Koli was charged with murder, kidnapping, rape, and destruction of evidence in every case. Koli was given the death penalty in over 10 cases after being found guilty of several rapes and the killings of various victims.
