- By Mayukh Debnath
- Mon, 08 Jul 2024 01:04 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Nithari Killings: The Supreme Court on Monday admitted pleas filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the Allahabad High Court's judgment acquitting Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case. A division bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan sought Koli's response on separate pleas filed by the probe agency against the high court verdict, which was passed on October 16 last year.
During the brief hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, argued that Koli was a serial killer who used to lure young girls and kill them. He said the killings were "gruesome" and told the bench that there were accusations of cannibalism and the trial court had awarded the death penalty to Koli, but the same had been reversed by the Allahabad High Court.
Nithari Case: Pleas Pending Before SC
The SC had in May agreed to hear a petition moved by the father of one of the victims against the high court order that acquitted Koli and his co-accused, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher. The top court bench said the pleas moved by the CBI would come up for hearing along with this petition, news agency PTI reported.
Nithari Kaand: Overview
The killings were uncovered when skeletal remains of eight children were recovered from a drain behind a house in Noida's Nithari area on December 29, 2006. Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help. Additional human skeletons were discovered when the digging and searches of the drains around the house was expanded.
Koli was made accused in all of the cases on various charges including murder, abduction, rape, and the destruction of evidence. However, Pandher was named in six of them. Koli was convicted of committing multiple rapes and murders of various girls and was sentenced to death in more than 10 cases.
(With inputs from agencies)
