Nithari serial killings case: Supreme Court acquits Surinder Koli in last pending case. Here's what order said

The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, acquitting him of all charges.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath directed that Koli be released immediately, provided he is not implicated in any other case.

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.

The bench set aside the conviction of Koli in the last remaining case related to the Nithari killings. He has been acquitted in 12 cases already. The apex court allowed the curative petition filed by Koli against the 2011 judgement of the Supreme Court, which had confirmed his conviction in one of the cases.

Koli then filed a curative petition based on his subsequent acquittal in 12 other cases.

Koli's curative petition before the Supreme Court contested his conviction in one of the Nithari murder cases, arguing that the evidence used against him had been deemed unreliable in other cases where he was subsequently acquitted.

This case represented his final remaining conviction, following the Supreme Court’s July decision to dismiss appeals against the Allahabad High Court's verdict that had acquitted him and co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher in the other Nithari killings.

In July, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals of CBI, the Uttar Pradesh government and victims' families against the acquittal of Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Koli by the Allahabad High Court in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case.

It had upheld the Allahabad High Court order of October 16, 2023, which had acquitted Pandher and Koli.

Both Koli and Pandher were accused of rape and murder, mostly of children in the neighbourhood of Noida in 2005-06.

The Allahabad High Court had, on October 16, 2023, acquitted Pandher and Koli in some of the cases concerning the Nithari killings and overturned the death penalty imposed on them by the trial court in September 2010.

It had acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in 2 cases, where they were earlier held guilty for murder and awarded the death penalty by the trial court in these cases.

The CBI had registered 16 cases against Koli and Pandher over the rape and killing of girls that had shocked the nation.

The case came into the public spotlight in December 2006, when skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari village, Noida. The house belonged to Moninder Singh Pandher, while Surendra Koli worked there as his domestic help.

Koli was accused in all the cases on charges including murder, abduction, rape, and destruction of evidence, whereas Pandher was named in six of the cases.

Koli had been convicted for multiple rapes and murders of several girls and was sentenced to death in more than ten cases.

(With inputs from ANI)