The Supreme Court (SC) put off making a decision on Surendra Koli’s curative appeal on Tuesday, which challenged his conviction and death sentence in one of the horrible Nithari murder cases. The court strongly suggested that Koli’s request “deserves to be allowed.” They also said that the domestic worker at businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s house may be cleared in the only case where his conviction still stands.
The Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai, and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath heard Koli’s case in open court.
The SC’s Worry About “Travesty of Justice”
The court didn’t see why Koli’s only surviving conviction made sense, considering what happened in the other Nithari cases.
The bench asked, “Will this not be strange?” “If this court has found him not guilty in other cases based on the same facts, and he is found guilty in this one based on the same evidence, won’t that be a miscarriage of justice?”
The SC’s decision to hold off on its ruling on the curative petition, which is the last option for legal action, means that Koli may soon be free after almost 19 years in prison.
A timeline of the horrible Nithari killings case
The Nithari crimes, which were among India’s most horrific serial murders, came to light in 2006 when human remains were found. The case includes claims of rape, cannibalism, and organ trade.
Discovery and Arrests (2006): On December 29, 2006, the case came to light after the skeleton remains of eight children were found in a drain below businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s D-5 property in Nithari village, Noida. That same day, police took Pandher and his housekeeper, Surendra Koli, into custody. More skulls, bones, and body parts belonging to destitute children and young women who had gone missing from the area were found in later searches.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case in January 2007 and filed 16 distinct charge sheets. Koli was charged in all 16 cases, whereas Pandher was charged in some cases with him.
Koli was found guilty in various crimes between 2011 and 2015. In 2011, he was sentenced to death for raping and killing a 15-year-old girl. The Allahabad High Court changed Koli’s death sentence to life in prison in 2015 because it took too long to consider his request for compassion.
Mass Acquittal (2023): Pandher and Koli were both found not guilty in many cases throughout the years because there wasn’t enough evidence. The most important change was on October 16, 2023, when the Allahabad High Court cleared Koli and Pandher of all remaining charges and harshly criticized the CBI’s investigation for breaking “basic norms of evidence collection.”
The SC upheld the acquittals (2024): The CBI and the families of the victims challenged the acquittals in the SC, but the highest court turned down all 14 appeals on July 30, 2024, confirming the acquittals of both Koli and Pandher in those cases.
The SC heard Koli’s last case on Tuesday, which was a curative petition. If the court changes his last conviction, Koli will no longer be in prison. The families of the Nithari victims have said that they have “lost all hope” in response to the most recent news.