Nithari accused walks free, questions remain
The Tribune Editorial: The Nithari investigation should now be examined for its failures — forensic, procedural and ethical.
Updated At : 06:51 AM Nov 12, 2025 IST
THE Supreme Court’s decision to acquit Surendra Koli, the main accused in the 2006 Nithari killings, marks the end of one of the country’s most horrifying and controversial criminal cases. Nearly two decades after the discovery of human remains in a Noida house shocked the nation, the SC has upheld the Allahabad High Court’s 2023 finding that the prosecution failed to prove guilt “beyond reasonable doubt.” The high court had acquitted both Koli and co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher in multiple cases, overturning the death sentences handed down by the trial court in 2010. Koli now walks free after years on death row.
