CBI plea over acquittal in Nithari case to be heard by apex court
New Delhi, July 19
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear separate petitions filed by the CBI and the Uttar Pradesh Government challenging an Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting Surendra Koli in the sensational 2006 Nithari serial killings case.
A three-judge Bench led by Justice BR Gavai issued notices to Koli and asked him to respond to the petitions and tagged them with similar petitions pending before the top court.
On May 8, the Bench had agreed to hear the CBI’s petition challenging the October 16, 2023 verdict of the Allahabad High Court acquitting Koli. The father of one of the victims has already challenged the order. The petitions filed by the CBI and the UP Government would be now taken up for hearing along with that petition.
Citing lack of evidence, the Allahabad High Court on October 16, 2023 acquitted domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher, who were awarded the death penalty in the serial killing cases.
While Koli was awarded the death penalty in 12 cases by the trial court, Pandher faced the capital punishment in two for allegedly raping and murdering minor children at the latter’s house in Nithari in Noida, near Delhi.
The sensational killings came to light following the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind Pandher’s house on December 29, 2006. Further digging and searches of drains in the area around Pandher’s house led to more skeletal remains being found. Most of these remains were that of poor children and young women who had gone missing from the area. Within 10 days, the CBI took over the case and its search had resulted in the recovery of more bones.
