Nithari killings: SC dismisses 14 appeals against Allahabad HC order acquitting Surendra Koli

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 30) dismissed several appeals against the Allahabad High Court order acquitting domestic help Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran dismissed as many as 14 appeals against Koli’s acquittal, including the one filed by the father of one of the victims, saying there was "no perversity" in the High Court’s findings acquitting Koli.

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The top court had last year agreed to hear separate appeals, including the appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Uttar Pradesh government challenging High Court’s October 16, 2003 verdict acquitting Koli.

Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Koli were accused of rape and murder of several persons, mostly children, in their neighbourhood in Noida’s Nithari.

The High Court, however, in October 2023 acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two cases in which the Ghaziabad trial court gave them death sentence, saying the prosecution failed to prove guilt of Pandher and Koli "beyond reasonable doubt".

The High Court, while allowing multiple appeals filed by Pandher and Koli against the trial court’s order sentencing them to death, also said that the investigation in the case was botched up.

A total of 19 cases were registered against the duo in 2007 and both were charged with rape and murder of several people, mostly children. The case came to light after skeletal remains of several children were recovered from a drain behind the house of Pandher in Nithari. There were allegations of sexual assault, brutal murder and possible cannibalism in the case, which was initially investigated by the Noida Police but was later transferred to the CBI.