"No Perversity in HC Order": Supreme Court upholds Surendra Koli’s Acquittal in Nithari Killings

The Supreme Court on Wednesday 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 found "no perversity" in the Allahabad High Court’s 2023 judgment which had overturned Koli’s conviction.
The Bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice K Vinod Chandran held that the prosecution failed to legally establish crucial links in the chain of circumstantial evidence.
The Bench 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 noted that the police had failed to properly record any voluntary statement from the accused that led to the discovery.
The Bench 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 held.
The Court further emphasised that in a case resting purely on circumstantial evidence, such lapses are fatal. “The Allahabad High Court rightly acquitted the accused, and we find no perversity in that finding,” CJI Gavai said.
Koli, along with his employer Moninder Singh Pandher, was accused in the serial murders of several children and young women in Noida's Nithari village in 2006.The case had shocked the nation with gruesome details of abduction, rape, murder, and alleged cannibalism.
While Pandher was acquitted earlier in multiple cases and later convicted in one, Koli had been sentenced to death in several of the FIRs registered. However, in 2023, the Allahabad High Court had acquitted him in 12 of the cases, citing "glaring deficiencies" in the prosecution’s evidence and procedure.
Notably, 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.
Hearing date: July 30, 2025
Bench: CJI BR Gavai, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice K Vinod Chandran
[Inputs: PTI]