After almost 19 years, the Supreme Court has acquitted Surendra Koli, the last convict in the infamous Nithari serial killings cases, bringing an end to one of India’s most chilling and controversial criminal cases. The top court set aside his 2011 conviction for rape and murder, ordering his immediate release from jail, where he has spent nearly two decades.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath delivered the landmark judgment on Tuesday (11th November), allowing Koli’s curative petition. The bench ruled that his conviction and death sentence were based on serious procedural and evidentiary flaws.
#BREAKING: In the Nithari serial killing case, the Supreme Court has ordered the release of Surendra Koli. Justice Vikram Nath stated that the 2011 review verdict is overturned. The Supreme Court’s appeal is accepted, the Allahabad High Court order is set aside, the petitioner is… pic.twitter.com/9GWlDUfLw3
— IANS (@ians_india) November 11, 2025
“The petitioner be released forthwith, if not wanted in any other case. The jail superintendent is to be informed of this judgment immediately,” Justice Vikram Nath announced in open court while reading out the order. The Supreme Court also directed that Koli be released immediately unless he is wanted in connection with any other pending case.
Koli, who faced trial in 13 separate cases related to the 2005-2007 Nithari killings, had earlier been acquitted in 12 of them. This judgment concerned his final remaining conviction under charges of murder, rape, and destruction of evidence.
Court cites grave errors in earlier judgments
During the hearing, Koli’s lawyer, Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry, highlighted how this was only the second case in Indian judicial history where the Supreme Court had acquitted a person on death row after dismissing their 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, thanking the court for its intervention.
#WATCH | Delhi: Supreme Court acquits Surendra Koli, who was convicted in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, and sets aside his conviction. Supreme Court orders his immediate release if not wanted in any other case.
Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry says, “In this case, Surendra… pic.twitter.com/U0QmHVDOBF
— ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2025
The court observed that “both the trial court and the Allahabad High Court had committed serious errors while convicting Koli. It found that crucial evidence was not collected or presented properly, and that many parts of the investigation failed to meet legal standards.”
Notably, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on the curative petition on 7th October. The petition challenged Koli’s conviction in one case while pointing out that the same evidence had been rejected as unreliable in the other 12 cases where he was acquitted.
Earlier observations from the Supreme Court
This decision follows the court’s July 2025 ruling, where it upheld Koli’s acquittal in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case, rejecting 14 appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Uttar Pradesh government. In that judgment, the court had said there was “no perversity” in the Allahabad High Court’s decision that overturned Koli’s conviction.
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.
Supreme Court upholds Allahabad…
— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2025
The bench had then noted that the prosecution had failed to establish a complete and credible chain of circumstantial evidence. It also found that there was clear non-compliance with Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, which deals with how evidence discovered based on an accused’s statement can be admitted in court.
The judges observed that the recovery of human skulls and belongings of the victims near the house of Koli’s employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, could not be legally accepted as evidence.
The reason: the recoveries were made from an open and public drain, and there was no properly recorded disclosure statement from Koli that led to the discovery.
“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 said.
CBI’s argument and Supreme Court’s response
Earlier, in July 2024, the Supreme Court had issued notice on petitions filed by the CBI and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who argued that Koli’s acts were “really gruesome” and deserving of the death penalty. However, the bench later found that the prosecution’s case lacked legally admissible evidence, and the investigation was riddled with gaps.
Similarly, in May 2024, the apex court also heard a plea from Pappu Lal, the father of one of the victim girls, challenging the Allahabad High Court’s decision that acquitted both Pandher and Koli. Despite the emotional nature of the case, the court emphasized that convictions cannot stand without solid and lawful evidence.
High Court’s strong criticism of CBI and police
When the Allahabad High Court overturned the convictions in October 2023, it had delivered a scathing criticism of both the Uttar Pradesh Police and the CBI. The court said that the investigation was “casual, perfunctory, and poorly handled.” It noted that the entire focus of the case had been wrongfully directed toward Koli, a poor domestic servant, while other possible leads were ignored.
The High Court even raised the possibility that organ trade might have been the real motive behind the killings, suggesting that the police and the CBI completely failed to probe that angle. Calling it a “betrayal of public trust,” the court said that the investigating agencies seemed determined to find an easy scapegoat rather than uncover the truth.
It also pointed out inconsistencies in the recovery of the victims’ remains, noting that the police appeared to have prior knowledge of the locations before any official disclosure by the accused. The court concluded that basic investigative norms had been violated and that the evidence used to implicate Koli and Pandher could not be trusted.
The High Court had then set aside both convictions and ordered their release, saying that a fair trial had been denied to the accused and that the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The court held that the case against Koli and Pandher too, was built primarily on the alleged confession by Koli, which was found to be unsubstantiable on scrutiny. The ‘confession’ lacked independent corroboration from forensic reports, eyewitness, or material evidence. Glaring procedural flaws in extracting the ‘confession’, even through tutoring and coercion were made evident as the cases progressed. Basically, the case was built on the thin ice of an alleged ‘confession’, that failed to sustain the rigorous legal scrutiny that is done in cases involving capital punishment.
The Allahabad HC had also noted that the police exhibited gross negligence by ignoring over 30 missing children reports for two years before the remains were found, treating them casually instead of launching timely probes. The CBI investigation too, was devoid of any forensic link between the victims and the accused.
Background: The Nithari killings that shocked India
The Nithari killings, which came to light in 2007, stunned the nation with their sheer depravity. The discovery of skeletal remains of several children in a drain behind a Noida house where Koli worked as a domestic aide exposed a series of murders that shocked the public conscience. The house belonged to businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, who was also named as an accused in multiple charge sheets.
The Nithari Killings (2005-2006)
A horrifying series of murders and disappearances of children in Noida led to the discovery of human remains near a house. The case exposed a gruesome tale of abuse and serial killings but left many unanswered questions. pic.twitter.com/osvCzqmyVZ— Ranvijay Singh (@ranvijayT90) January 8, 2025
Following widespread public outrage, the probe was transferred to the CBI, which alleged that Koli lured young girls to the house, sexually assaulted and killed them, and mutilated their bodies. He was also accused of cannibalism.
Between 2005 and 2007, 16 cases of rape and murder were registered. The prosecution claimed to have recovered the weapon used to dismember the victims’ bodies. The trial court convicted Koli in 13 cases, while Pandher, initially convicted in two, was later acquitted in all. After the Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling, Koli was left with one surviving conviction.