The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed 14 appeals challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli, one of the main accused in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case. A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, along with Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran, upheld the Allahabad High Court’s October 2023 decision that cleared Koli of charges in the case that once shook the nation. The bench found "no perversity" in the high court’s ruling and said the prosecution had failed to present admissible and credible evidence to support a conviction.
Referring to Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, the bench noted that the recovery of skulls and personal belongings of the victims from a drain behind the residence of co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher was not linked to any recorded statement made by Koli before the police.
The court reiterated that recoveries made without formal police documentation of the accused’s statements are inadmissible in court. It further clarified that, in cases primarily based on circumstantial evidence, only those recoveries from locations exclusively known or accessible to the accused are legally valid.
Appeals filed by CBI, UP govt, and victims' families
The dismissed appeals included those filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Uttar Pradesh government, and family members of victims. One such petition was filed by the father of a minor victim, who had challenged the high court’s decision, citing the horrific nature of the crimes and alleged lapses in the judicial process.
Pandher and Koli earlier acquitted over ‘botched-up’ probe
Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic worker, Surendra Koli, were initially convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court. Koli received death sentences in 12 of the 19 registered cases, while Pandher was sentenced in two. On September 28, 2010, Koli was awarded the death penalty in one of the cases by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad.
However, on October 16, 2023, the Allahabad High Court reversed these convictions, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt.” The court called the investigation a “botched-up probe” and “a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies.”
Background: Shocking serial murders in Nithari
The Nithari killings came to light on December 29, 2006, when the skeletal remains of eight children were discovered in a drain behind Pandher’s house in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, near Delhi. Subsequent searches uncovered more remains, mostly of children and young women who had gone missing in the area.
The case triggered public outrage and led to a massive investigation. A total of 19 cases were registered in 2007, with the CBI taking over the probe within ten days. Three cases were later closed due to lack of evidence, while Koli was acquitted in three others. His death sentence in one case was commuted to life imprisonment.
SC heard arguments over circumstantial evidence
During a hearing on April 29, the top court scheduled arguments for July 30. The petitioners had described the killings as a "dastardly crime," while Koli's lawyer argued it was a case based entirely on circumstantial evidence, lacking eyewitness testimony.
The Supreme Court observed that the arguments could not be concluded in a single day and subsequently resumed the hearing this week, leading to Wednesday’s dismissal of the appeals.
(With inputs from PTI)
