The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted domestic help Surender Koli and his employer Maninder Singh Pandher in the 2006 Nithari serial killings due to a lack of evidence. The case, which involved the discovery of skeletal remains behind a Noida bungalow, shook the nation with its horrific crimes against young girls.
A two-judge bench comprising Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and SHA Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, challenging the death sentences imposed by a CBI court in Ghaziabad. The high court stated that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Manisha Bhandari, the lawyer representing Pandher, mentioned that the Allahabad High Court’s decision could potentially lead to Pandher’s release from prison. However, Koli is likely to remain incarcerated, as he still faces life imprisonment in one case.
A CBI official in New Delhi indicated that the team was awaiting the judgment copy and would decide on the next steps after reviewing it.
Koli, currently in a Ghaziabad prison, had received the death penalty in 12 cases being heard by the Allahabad High Court. His former employer Pandher, held in a Noida jail, had been sentenced to death in two cases. Both were charged with rape and murder and had received the death penalty for their involvement in the killings, which shocked the nation with the heinous details of sexual assault, brutal murder, and even hints of possible cannibalism.
In total, 19 cases had been registered against Pandher and Koli in 2007. The CBI had submitted closure reports in three of these cases due to insufficient evidence. Koli had previously been acquitted in three cases, and his death sentence in one case had been commuted to life imprisonment.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s appeal challenging the high court’s earlier decision to commute Koli’s death sentence to life imprisonment is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Koli was acquitted in the remaining 12 cases on this day.
Pandher’s lawyer explained that he was initially charged in six cases—one by the CBI and five based on complaints from the victims’ families. He had previously been acquitted in three cases by the sessions court. He has now been acquitted in the remaining three cases, with one in 2009 and two on Monday, according to his lawyer Bhandari.
The shocking Nithari serial killings came to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children behind Pandher’s house in Nithari, Noida, on December 29, 2006. Subsequent searches in the area led to the recovery of more remains. Most of the victims were children and young women who had gone missing from the vicinity.
Within 10 days, the CBI took over the case, leading to the discovery of additional bone fragments.
