2006 Nithari killings: SC to hear on July 30 pleas against Surendra Koli's acquittal

New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Tuesday set July 30 to hear pleas challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case.

The appeals came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih.

The counsel appearing for one of the petitioners referred the case as a dastardly crime in which skeletal remains of several children were found.

The lawyer appearing for Koli said it was a case of circumstantial evidence without any eye-witness.

Upon inquiring with the lawyers on the time to argue the matter, the bench observed, "It is not likely to be over today," the bench observed and posted the matter on July 30.

The top court last year agreed to examine separate pleas, including those filed by the CBI and the Uttar Pradesh government, challenging the Allahabad High Court's decision acquitting Koli on October 16, 2023.

One of the pleas was filed by the father of one of the victims challenging the high court's verdict.

Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Koli were accused of rape and murder of people, mostly children from their neighbourhood in Nithari in Uttar Pradesh.

Koli was awarded death penalty on September 28, 2010 by the trial court.

The high court acquitted Pandher and Koli in the death penalty case, holding prosecution's failure to prove their guilt "beyond reasonable doubt" and called it a "botched up" investigation.

Reversing the death sentence given to Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two cases, the high court said the probe was "nothing short of a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies".

The high court allowed multiple appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, who challenged the death sentence awarded by a CBI court in Ghaziabad.

A total of 19 cases were lodged against the duo in 2007, and the CBI filed closure reports in three cases due to lack of evidence.

Koli was acquitted in three of the 16 remaining cases and his death sentence in one case was commuted to life.

The killings came to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind Pandher's house at Nithari in Noida, bordering the national capital, on December 29, 2006.

Further digging and searches of drains in the area around the house led to more skeletal remains. Most of these remains were those of children and young women who went missing in the area.

The CBI took over the case within 10 days of the crime and its search resulted in the recovery of more human remains.

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