New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 11) acquitted Surendra Koli, the prime accused in the Nithari killings, in the last remaining case in which his conviction and life sentence were still in force.

The bench, led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai along with Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, ruled that convictions, especially in cases carrying the death penalty, cannot be based on conjecture and must adhere strictly to due process. The court said allowing Koli’s 2011 conviction to stand despite his acquittal in 12 other connected cases would amount to a “manifest miscarriage of justice.” 

The Supreme Court annulled its earlier rulings from February 15, 2011, and October 28, 2014, which had upheld Koli’s conviction and rejected his review petition, respectively. The bench also quashed the February 13, 2009, verdict of the sessions court and the subsequent October 11, 2009 order. It ordered his immediate release unless required in connection with any other case, Live Law reported.

“Suspicion, however grave, cannot replace proof beyond reasonable doubt. Courts cannot prefer expediency over legality,” the bench said.

Citing Articles 14 and 21 of the constitution, the bench observed that treating similar cases differently violates both equality and the right to life and liberty. “Arbitrary disparity in outcomes on an identical record is inimical to equality before the law,” the order stated.

The bench pronounced the judgement while hearing the curative petition – the final legal remedy available before the Supreme Court, typically invoked in cases involving grave procedural errors or denial of justice – filed by Koli against the 2011 judgment of the Supreme Court, which had confirmed his conviction in one of the cases. Koli sought curative on the basis of his subsequent acquittal in twelve other cases.

“The tension is not peripheral. It goes to the integrity of adjudication,” the bench noted, underlining that curative jurisdiction exists to correct “manifest miscarriages of justice” where "inconsistent results persist on an identical record and undermine public confidence in the administration of justice," as per Live Law.

The CJI-led bench criticised the police investigation. “The scene was not secured before excavation began, the disclosure was not contemporaneously recorded, remand papers carried contradictory versions, and the petitioner was kept in prolonged police custody without a timely, court-directed medical examination,” the bench was quoting as saying. 

This verdict concludes nearly two decades of litigation in one of India’s most disturbing criminal cases and marks a rare instance of the apex court overturning its own earlier ruling through curative powers.

The Nithari case, uncovered in 2006, involved the discovery of human remains near a Noida residence where Koli worked as a domestic worker at the residence of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher. Koli had been accused of luring, abducting, assaulting, raping and killing several children between 2005 and 2006. Though both Pandher and Koli were initially convicted, Pandher was later acquitted, and Koli’s final conviction has now been overturned.

Questions have repeatedly come up on the investigation into this case. According to an investigative report by The Reporter's Collective, locals noted that police repeatedly dismissed missing person complaints. Moreover, a doctor, who lived right next to the Pandher's bungalow, was implicated in an organ trade racket. On January 3, 2007, a two-member panel found lapses in handling missing children cases for two years and three senior police officials and several local police officers were even suspended.

In its investigation, TRC highlighted how Koli, a Dalit domestic worker, was consistently portrayed as the primary culprit, even by sections of the media. It noted that while reports mentioned Pandher’s acquittal for “lack of evidence,” they failed to explain why the Allahabad high court had overturned Koli’s death sentences in all but one case.

Speaking to PTI on Tuesday, Koli's advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry said, "After 19 years, in the 13 cases in which he had been sentenced to death, he had already been proven innocent in 12 of them. One case was left, in which five courts had declared him guilty and gave the death sentence. Today, the Supreme Court has overturned those earlier four or five judgments in that case as well... These were extremely serious charges, but all the evidence was fabricated."

"This poor man was framed to protect some powerful person. Every bit of evidence was fake, not a single piece could justify a conviction... You should ask this question to the CBI, because it is clear that the CBI, despite knowing who the real culprit was, created false evidence against these innocent people and trapped them. Ask these questions to the CBI," he added.

The parents of the deceased children have expressed their displeasure after Koli's acquittal.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, the mother of one of the children, said, "Moninder [Moninder Singh Pandher] and Surendra [Surendra Koli] killed so many children. But nothing is being done about the case. Who is guilty now? Was there a ghost in that house which killed all the children? They used to kill children and indulge in organ trafficking. Now they say that they are innocent. Law is letting them go; God won't."

A timeline of the events:

•  October 7, 2006: First FIR filed by a local court, nearly five months after a 22-year-old woman goes missing in Nithari.
• December 29, 2006: 16 human skulls, skeletal remains and clothes in gunny bags found in a drain behind bungalow number D-5 in Noida's Sector 31, close to Nithari village. House owner Pandher and his domestic helper Koli get arrested.
• December 30, 2006: Five policemen suspended for mishandling probe; more skeletons found.
• January 3, 2007: Two-member panel finds lapses in handling missing children cases for two years which results in suspension of three senior police officials and several local police officers.
• January 10, 2007: Uttar Pradesh government government hands over case to CBI for investigation. More bones recovered from drain. Chargesheet filed in 16 cases for rape, murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and trafficking.
• March 1, 2007: In a recorded statement, Koli admits that he murdered one woman and six children and even confesses cannibalism.
• February 13, 2009: Ghaziabad court awards death penalty to Koli and Pandher in first Nithari case; the court finds Pandher and Koli guilty of murdering 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar in 2005.
• May 12, 2010: Koli awarded death penalty in second case.
• 2010 to 2012: Koli awarded death penalty in three more cases.
• July 20, 2014: The then President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Koli's mercy petition against other death sentences.
• July 24, 2014: Supreme Court dismisses Koli's review petition.
• September 8, 2014: Koli's counsel, advocate Indira Jaisingh, files another review petition in the apex court hours before his scheduled hanging at Meerut jail at 5.30 am. Stay order given to jail authorities at 3.30 am.
• January 29, 2015: Allahabad high court commutes Koli's death sentence to life imprisonment.
• March 2, 2019: Trial court awards tenth death sentence to Koli.
• January 16, 2021: Koli awarded death penalty in 12th Nithari case, Pandher acquitted.
• March 26, 2021: Koli acquitted by Ghaziabad court in case related to destruction of evidence.
• October 16, 2023: Allahabad high court acquits both Koli and Pandher; Koli in 12 cases in which he was sentenced death penalty, only one case remained against Koli where he was serving life imprisonment and Pandher acquitted in two cases where he faced death penalty.
• October 28, 2014: Supreme Court hears and rejects Koli's review petition.
• May 3, 2024: Supreme Court issues notice on plea against acquittal of accused.
• Apr 3, 2025: Supreme Court commences hearing on appeal.
• Jul 30, 2025: Supreme Court rejects 14 appeals against Allahabad high court verdict acquitting Koli.
• Oct 7, 2025: Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Koli's curative petition challenging his conviction and death sentence in one of the cases.
• November 11, 2025: Supreme Court allows Koli's curative petition, acquits him in the case.

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