The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld an Allahabad High Court order acquitting two persons originally convicted in the 2006 Nithari serial murders case. The CBI, the UP government, and the families of several victims had appealed against the HC judgement acquitting Moninder Singh Pandher and Surendra Koli.
A three-judge bench including Chief Justice BR Gavai ruled that there was no perversity in findings of the high court.
Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli were sentenced to death by the trial court in 2009 for allegedly killing several missing children. The case came to light after body parts of several young girls who had gone missing in the Nithari area of Noida were discovered in 2006.
Supreme Court dismisses the appeals of CBI, Uttar Pradesh government and victims’ families against the acquittal of Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli by the Allahabad High Court in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case.
— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2025
Supreme Court upholds Allahabad…
Koli and Pandher were accused and convicted of rape and murder of girls found dead in Nithari. However, their death sentences were converted to live sentences by the Supreme Court due to long delay in deciding their mercy petitions and the execution of the death sentences.
Then in 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted them after a fresh appeal, stating that there was no evidence linking them to the murders apart from their confessions. The court had said that there were no eyewitnesses and insufficient forensic/scientific evidence to link the accused to the crimes. The court also said that the investigation was botched and unreliable.
A total of 14 petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order, including by the CBI and the Uttar Pradesh government. But the apex court agreed with the high court verdict, and rejected the pleas.
