NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a curative petition filed by Surendra Koli challenging his conviction and death sentence in one of the Nithari murder cases. With this decision, Koli will now walk free, as he has already been acquitted in all other Nithari cases.The Nithari killings came to light on December 29, 2006, after skeletal remains of eight children were discovered in a drain behind the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Noida’s Nithari village.A bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath passed the order after hearing Koli’s petition in open court. Koli had been convicted for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, and his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in February 2011. His review plea was dismissed in 2014.In January 2015, the Allahabad high court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, citing an inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition. Later, in October 2023, the same court acquitted both Koli and Pandher in multiple Nithari cases, overturning the death sentences awarded by a trial court in 2017.Koli was acquitted in 12 cases and Pandher in two. Although the CBI and victims’ families challenged these acquittals before the Supreme Court, the top court dismissed all 14 appeals on July 30 this year.
