Nithari Case: SC Rejects 14 Appeals Challenging Acquittal Of Surendra Koli

2006 Nithari serial killings case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed 14 separate appeals challenging the acquittal of Surendra Koli, accused in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai and comprising Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran upheld the Allahabad High Court’s verdict, stating there was no “perversity” in its findings.

The court highlighted a key legal point related to Section 27 of the Evidence Act, noting that the recovery of skulls and other victim belongings from an open drain was not linked to any statement given by Koli to the police.

The bench emphasized that any recovery made without recording the accused’s statement is inadmissible as evidence under the law.

Further, the court clarified that for cases relying heavily on circumstantial evidence, only recoveries from places exclusively accessible to the accused qualify as valid evidence.

The appeals, which included petitions by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Uttar Pradesh government, and a victim’s family member, sought to overturn the high court’s October 2023 decision acquitting Koli.

Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic worker Surendra Koli had faced charges related to the rape and murder of several children in Nithari, Uttar Pradesh. Koli was initially sentenced to death in 2010 by the trial court.

However, the Allahabad High Court acquitted both Pandher and Koli, criticizing the investigation as “botched up” and describing it as a betrayal of public trust due to the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The court also overturned the death sentences in all related cases.