The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed 14 appeals challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli, a key accused in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, upholding the Allahabad High Court’s ruling that had exonerated him on grounds of insufficient evidence.
A bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, along with Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K. Vinod Chandran, found “no perversity” in the high court’s decision to acquit Koli. The court observed that the alleged recovery of victims’ remains, including skulls and personal items from a drain near the residence of Koli’s employer, Moninder Singh Pandher, was not made in accordance with legal provisions under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act.
“Unless recoveries are made following a statement from the accused leading to discovery of evidence from a place only accessible to the accused, such evidence is inadmissible under the law,” the bench ruled.
The dismissed appeals included petitions by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Uttar Pradesh government, and the father of one of the victims. These challenged the October 16, 2023 verdict of the Allahabad High Court, which had acquitted both Koli and Pandher, citing the prosecution’s failure to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The Nithari case, which came to light in 2006, involved a series of brutal murders, primarily of children, in the village of Nithari in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Koli, a domestic worker employed by Pandher, was accused of sexually assaulting and murdering numerous victims. The case shocked the nation and led to multiple investigations and trials.
In 2010, a trial court sentenced Koli to death in 12 cases and Pandher in two. However, the high court reversed those sentences, criticizing the investigative agencies for conducting what it called a “botched up” and “unprofessional” probe. The judges remarked that the investigation amounted to “a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies.”
