SC upholds acquittal of Koli, Pandher in Nithari killings, Junks petitions by CBI, victim families

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Allahabad High Court’s verdict acquitting accused Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in the 2006 sensational Nithari serial killings case.

“There is no perversity in the Allahabad High Court judgment," a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said, dismissing 14 appeals – 12 filed by the CBI and the rest two by Pappu Lal and Anil Haldar against the high court’s verdict acquitting the accused duo.

In top court’s order came as a major setback to the CBI and the families of the victims who had challenged the October 16, 2023 judgment of the Allahabad High Court that held “prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of accused SK (Surendra Koli) and Pandher beyond reasonable doubt, on the settled parameters of a case based on circumstantial evidence.”

“Show me one judgment which says that any recovery made without recording of the statement of an accused before the police is permissible in law," the CJI asked senior counsel Geeta Luthra and advocate Raja B Thakare, representing the CBI and victims’ families after they submitted that 16 poor children went missing and skulls and other belongings of the victims were recovered from the drain.

The recovered objects could be attributed to the accused if the place of recovery was accessible to them only, the Bench pointed out. The top court appreciated the Allahabad High Court for withstanding media pressure."It is rather complimentary of the judges of the high court for writing such a judgment. There must be a lot of media pressure… By withstanding such pressure they have given such a (verdict)…The trial court (verdict), sorry to say, must have been on the basis of a media trial", the CJI said, upholding the high court’s verdict acquitting Koli and Pandher.

The gruesome killings came to light following the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind Pandher’s house at Nithari in Noida near Delhi 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 those 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 resulted in the recovery of more bones. There were 19 cases lodged against Pandher and Koli in 2007.

The trial court had awarded the death penalty to Both Koli and Pandher. However, the high court faulted the prosecution for giving a complete go by to procedural requirements in recording of disclosure statements of accused leading to recovery of biological remains i.e. skulls, bones and skeleton etc and acquitted the duo.

“The manner in which confession is recorded after 60 days of police remand without any medical examination of accused; providing of legal aid; overlooking specific allegation of torture in the confession itself; failure to comply with the requirement of Section 164 Cr.P.C. is shocking to say the least,” the high court had said.

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