Nithari killings: Supreme Court dismisses CBI appeals against acquittal of Moninder Singh Pandher, Surendra Koli

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Allahabad High Court acquittal of Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli in connection with the Nithari killings of 2005-2006 in Noida, in which cases they had earlier been sentenced to death by a trial court..A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran dismissed a total of 14 appeals filed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the victims' families, which challenged the Allahabad High Court’s October 2023 verdict acquitting Surinder Koli in 12 cases and Moninder Singh Pandher in 2 cases.The bench found no perversity in the High Court’s judgment and noted that the prosecution had failed to present admissible and credible evidence to support a conviction. The apex court also highlighted shortcomings in the investigation conducted by the probe agency, particularly in relation to Section 27 of the Evidence Act..While Pandher has been acquitted in all the cases against him, Koli will continue to remain in prison despite the recent ruling, as he is serving a life sentence in one of the Nithari murder cases, where his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011..The Nithari murders took place between 2005 and 2006. The case came to public attention in December 2006 when skeletons were discovered in a drain near a house in Nithari village, Noida. Subsequently, it was revealed that Moninder Singh Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took up the investigation in the matter and eventually filed multiple cases.Surendra Koli was made an accused in all of the cases on various charges including murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence, while Moninder Singh Pandher was charged in one case related to immoral trafficking.Koli was eventually convicted of committing multiple rapes and murders of various girls and was sentenced to death in more than ten cases.In 2009, the Allahabad High Court held Koli guilty but acquitted Pandher due to lack of evidence for the murder and rape of a victim, a 14-year-old girl. An appeal by Koli against this judgment was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2011. A review plea by Koli was also later dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2014.However, High Court, on January 28, 2015 commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on account of an inordinate delay in deciding on Koli's mercy petition.In July 2017, a special CBI court held Pandher and Koli guilty for killing of another woman and sentenced them to death.In October 2023, Allahabad High Court acquitted Pandher and Koli in several cases related to the Nithari killings, overturning the death sentences imposed by the trial court in 2017. The High Court acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in 2, in which both had previously been found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.This prompted the CBI and the victims' families to file a total of 14 appeals before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's decision.