In a landmark development that brings closure to one of the most disturbing criminal cases in Indian history, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the curative petition filed by Surendra Koli, the primary accused in the Nithari serial killings, thereby quashing his conviction and death sentence in the sole remaining case and paving the way for his release after nearly two decades in prison.

The order was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Vikram Nath during the post-lunch session in Courtroom 3. Speaking for the bench, Justice Vikram Nath formally announced, “The curative petition is allowed,” effectively setting aside the last surviving conviction that had kept Koli on death row despite multiple acquittals in preceding years.

With this decision, Surendra Koli now stands legally exonerated in all 16 cases that were pursued by the Central Bureau of Investigation after the initial registration of 19 FIRs. He had already been acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in October 2023 in 12 cases, by trial courts in three others, and had his death sentence in one case commuted to life imprisonment in 2015 due to inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition. The Supreme Court had earlier, on July 30, 2025, dismissed all 14 appeals filed by the CBI and victims’ families against those acquittals.

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The Nithari killings came to light in December 2006 when residents of Nithari village in Noida reported missing children, leading police to discover skeletal remains and personal belongings in a drain behind House No. D-5, Sector-31, the residence of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher where Koli was employed as domestic help. The subsequent investigation uncovered allegations of serial sexual assault, murder, dismemberment, and possible cannibalism involving several minor girls and young women, triggering nationwide horror and intense media scrutiny.

After an exhaustive judicial journey spanning trial courts, the Allahabad High Court, and multiple rounds before the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land has now conclusively held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and that serious lapses in the investigation rendered the evidence unreliable. With the acceptance of the curative petition – a rarest-of-rare remedy – Surendra Koli is set to walk out of Dasna jail as a free man within hours, marking the final and irrevocable end to the long-drawn Nithari killings saga.

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