Supreme Court Acquits Surendra Koli in Final Nithari Case, Calls Earlier Conviction a ‘Miscarriage of Justice’
Surendra Koli, the main convict in the Nithari killings, was on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) acquitted by the Supreme Court in the lone remaining case against him where his conviction and life term had held ground.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) November 12: The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the conviction of Surendra Koli in the last remaining murder case linked to the sensational 2005-2006 Nithari killings that had sparked uproar, led to public outrage which were even made into a Hindi film 'Sector 36' released in the year 2024.
Top Court Orders Release
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath saw Mr. Koli’s conviction in the 2011 verdict as a manifest miscarriage of justice when he had already been acquitted in another 12 related cases with the same set of facts and evidence. Accordingly, the Bench ordered his immediate release unless he was needed in some other case or proceeding.
The court said the Nithari killings were “heinous” and that the suffering of the families is beyond measure. Yet it said it had deep regret that, despite numerous inquiries, the organization was unable to determine the identity of the actual perpetrator in a way that satisfied legal standards.
The bench said, “To allow a conviction to stand on an evidentiary basis that this Court has since rejected as involuntary or inadmissible in the very same fact matrix offends Article 21 of the Constitution. It also violates Article 14 of the Constitution, since like cases must be treated alike. Arbitrary disparity in outcomes on an identical record is inimical to equality before the law”.
Nithari Horror Recalled
The top court had been dealing with the curative petition filed by Koli against its 2011 verdict upholding his conviction in a case relating to murder of a 15-year-old girl. During an earlier hearing, the top court had said that Koli has been convicted solely on the basis of a statement and the recovery of a kitchen knife.
This was the 13th case registered against Koli. He has been acquitted in 12 other cases already. So, with this latest acquittal, Koli shall now walk free.
Nithari killings is one of the few crimes in India which could be equated to such degree of sub-humanity prevalent and reported in media.
Timeline of Investigations
The Nithari killings case was unearthed in December 2006 after skeletal remains of a number of children were recovered by the police from a drain behind the Noida-based businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's house in Nithari. Pandher and his domestic help, Koli were then arrested.
The CBI on taking over the case, filed several cases against Koli under different sections of law such as -murder, abduction, rape and tampering of evidence. Pandher was convicted in a sole case in connection with immoral trafficking.
From 2009 to 2017, Koli was found guilty of raping and murdering multiple children and awarded death in 12 cases. In the case of the 15-year-old girl (13th Case), originally, Koli was convicted by Allahabad High Court and Pandher was acquitted. Koli's appeal against this conviction was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2011. Koli's review petition was also rejected subsequently in 2014.
