Nithari Killings: Uttar Pradesh government, CBI move Supreme Court against acquittal of accused

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on the appeals filed by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against acquittal of accused Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli in the Nithari killings case [State Through Central Bureau of Investigation vs Surendra Koli]..A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan sought response from the acquitted-accused who had earlier been sentenced to death by a trial court.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the CBI and the UP government..The apex court had in May this year issued notice to the acquitted-accused and the State of Uttar Pradesh on a similar appeal filed by Pappu Lal, father of one of the victim girls..The Allahabad High Courthad in October last year acquitted Pandher and Koli in some of the cases concerning the Nithari killings and overturned the death penalty imposed on them by the trial court. This led to the instant appeals before the apex court..The Nithari murders took place between 2005 and 2006. The case came to public attention in December 2006 when skeletons were discovered in a drain near a house in Nithari village, Noida. Subsequently, it was revealed that Moninder Singh Pandher was the owner of the house and Koli was his domestic help and they had killed young girls. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took up the investigation in the matter and eventually filed multiple case information reports.Koli was made an accused in all of the cases on various charges including murder, abduction, rape, and the destruction of evidence, while Pandher was charged in one case related to immoral trafficking.Koli was eventually convicted of committing multiple rapes and murders of various girls and was sentenced to death in more than 10 cases.In July 2017, a special CBI court, presided over by judge Pawan Kumar Tiwari held Pandher and Koli guilty for killing of a 20-year-old woman, Pinki Sarkar, and sentenced them to death.In 2009, the Allahabad High Court held Koli guilty but acquitted Pandher due to lack of evidence for the murder and rape of another victim, 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar. An appeal by Koli against this judgment was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2011. A review plea by Koli was also later dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2014.However, High Court, on January 28, 2015 had commuted Koili's sentence to life imprisonment on account of an inordinate delay in deciding his mercy petition.That verdict was pronounced by a bench of then High Chief Justice (now Chief Justice of India) DY Chandrachud and Justice (since retired) PKS Baghel on a petition by the Peoples' Union for Democratic Rights.In the judgment presently under challenge, the High Court had censured the investigating agencies including the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a "casual and perfunctory" probe in the matter. It had observed that by focusing on Koli as the sole perpetrator, the investigating officials overshadowed the significant likelihood of organ trade being the true motive behind the infamous crimes..Nithari killings: Allahabad High Court acquits death row convicts Surendra Koli in 12 cases, Moninder Pandher in 2