The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the curative petition filed by Surendra Koli challenging his conviction and death sentence in one of the infamous Nithari murder cases, bringing an end to his nearly two-decade-long incarceration.
With the top court’s decision, Koli is now a free man, as he has already been acquitted in all other Nithari cases by the Allahabad High Court.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, which heard Koli’s plea in open court — a rare occurrence in curative matters.
Koli had been convicted for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Noida’s Nithari village. His conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in February 2011, and his review plea was dismissed in 2014.
However, the Allahabad High Court, in January 2015, commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, noting the inordinate delay in the disposal of his mercy petition as a mitigating factor.
The Nithari killings came to light on December 29, 2006, when skeletal remains of eight children were discovered from a drain behind the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Noida’s Nithari locality. The gruesome discovery led to a series of investigations and multiple trials against Pandher and his domestic help, Koli.
In October 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted both Koli and Pandher in several Nithari cases, overturning the death sentences awarded by the trial court in 2017. The court acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two.
The CBI and victims’ families challenged these acquittals before the Supreme Court, but the apex court dismissed all 14 appeals on July 30, 2025, thereby upholding the acquittals.
The Supreme Court’s acceptance of Koli’s curative petition marks the closure of one of India’s most sensational and disturbing criminal cases, which had gripped the nation with horror nearly two decades ago.
The order effectively nullifies his last remaining conviction, finally setting him free after 19 years of imprisonment.
