Nithari Killings: Supreme Court Sets Aside Conviction of Surendra Koli, Orders Immediate Release
Supreme Court acquitted Surendra Koli, the sole remaining convict in the Nithari serial killings, setting aside his 2011 conviction and ordering his immediate release after nearly two decades in jail
Supreme Court Acquits Nithari Killings Convict Surendra Koli After 14 Years, Allows Curative Petition
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Surendra Koli, the domestic help convicted in the infamous Nithari serial killings, allowing his curative petition and setting aside his 2011 conviction for rape and murder.
The Bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath delivered the verdict in open court, holding that Koli’s conviction and death sentence suffered from grave errors.
“The curative petition is allowed. The judgments of the sessions court and the High Court are set aside,” Justice Nath announced while pronouncing the order.
The Court directed that Koli be released forthwith, unless required in connection with any other pending case.
Koli, who faced trial in 13 separate cases related to the 2005–2007 Nithari serial murders, had earlier been acquitted in 12 of them. This curative petition pertained to the lone remaining conviction under Sections 302 (murder), 304 (culpable homicide), 376 (rape), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Appearing for Koli, Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry told the Bench after the pronouncement that this was only the second case in India’s judicial history where the Supreme Court had acquitted a death row convict after the dismissal of a review petition.
“Since Your Lordships began monitoring death sentence cases, this is the second such case, the first involved five denotified tribals, and now a domestic servant. He was taken twice to the gallows and brought back,” Chaudhry said, expressing gratitude to the court.
Notably, on October 7, the Court had reserved its order on the curative petition filed by Koli.
Koli, who was sentenced to death in multiple cases, had been acquitted in 12 of them by the Allahabad High Court, which found the prosecution evidence unreliable. His curative plea sought to overturn the Supreme Court’s earlier decision upholding his conviction in one case, arguing that the same set of evidence was found insufficient in all others.
The Nithari killings, which came to light in Noida between 2005 and 2007, shocked the nation after skeletal remains of children and women were discovered near the house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, who was also accused in the case.
On July 30, 2025, the Court had upheld the acquittal of Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, dismissing 14 appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Uttar Pradesh government. The Court had found "no perversity" in the Allahabad High Court’s 2023 judgment which had overturned Koli’s conviction. The 3-Judge Bench had held that the prosecution failed to legally establish crucial links in the chain of circumstantial evidence. It had noted that there was non-compliance with Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, which governs the admissibility of statements leading to the discovery of evidence. Referring specifically to the recovery of human skulls and victims' belongings from an open drain near the residence of Koli’s employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, the Court had noted that the police had failed to properly record any voluntary statement from the accused that led to the discovery.
It had stressed that for any such recovery to be admissible, it must follow a statement from the accused and be from a location only known to the accused. “The recoveries made in this case are not from an exclusive place accessible only to the accused. They were made from an open and public place. In absence of any recorded disclosure statement by the accused leading to the recovery, such evidence is inadmissible,” the Court had held.
Earlier, in July 2024, the Apex Court had issued notice on the petitions after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing CBI had told the bench that Koli was granted death penalty by the trial court for his "really gruesome" acts. The Court had then sought a response from Koli on separate pleas filed by the CBI against the high court's verdict dated October 16, 2023.
In May 2024, the Supreme Court had also issued notice in the appeal filed by Pappu Lal, the father of one of the victim girls, against the High Court's decision setting aside the conviction of Moninder Singh Pandher and Surendra Koli.
Case Title: Surendra Koli v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Pronouncement Date: November 11, 2025
Bench: CJI BR Gavai, Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath