BREAKING | Nithari Killings: Allahabad HC Acquits Surendra Koli In 12 Cases, Moninder Pander In 2; Sets Aside Death Sentence

On the other hand, another suspect, Moninder Singh Pandher has also been acquitted by the Court in two cases in which he was sentenced to death by the trial court.

With this, a bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi allowed the appeals filed by Pandher and Koli after reserving the judgment in the cases last month. A detailed judgment is awaited.

While Koli was handed death sentences in 12 cases earlier, Pandher too, had been sentenced to death in 2 cases by the trial courts.

About Nithari Killings

It is believed that the infamous Nithari murders were committed between 2005 and 2006. The matter came to light when in December 2006, skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari, Noida.

Later on, it was found that Moninder Pander is the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help and hence, both were implicated in the FIRs

The CBI registered a total of 16 cases, charge sheeting Koli in all of them for murder, abduction, and rape besides destruction of evidence, and Pandher in one for immoral trafficking.

The Ghaziabad court, however, summoned Pandher in five other cases after several victims' families approached it. As per the CBI, Koli had killed several girls by chopping off their bodies to pieces before throwing them in the backyard outside their house.

Advocate Manisha Bhandari appeared for Pander. Advocate Payoshi Roy appeared for Koli.

Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 385