HC acquits Pandher in one Nithari case : Confirms Death For His Servant, Koli

The Allahabad High Court on Friday acquitted Noida businessman Moninder Singh Pandher for want of evidence in one of the sensational Nithari serial murders, but upheld the death sentence of his domestic help, Surinder Koli.

The order by a division bench of Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Kashi Nath Pandey came on an appeal filed by 52-year-old Pandher and 38-year-old Koli, challenging the death sentence awarded on February 13 by the Ghaziabad additional sessions judge for murder.

While allowing the appeal of Pandher and dismissing that of Koli, the bench made it clear that the ‘‘findings recorded by them were confined to the murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar’’. The judgment should not, in any way, affect decisions in other Nithari cases by the trial court, the bench asserted.

‘‘The depraved and brutish acts of Surinder call for only one sentence and that is death. We agree with the reasoning of the sessions judge,’’ the bench said.

Pandher’s son Karandeep Singh, who was present in the high court, said: ‘‘Justice has happened. There is a God, and there is justice in the country. I am looking forward to justice in the remaining cases.’’

The high court, Karandeep said, had sustained CBI’s chargesheet and ‘‘we are moderately happy about that’’.

Pandher’s lawyer Monisha Bhandari said she would try to obtain bail for her client in the other cases.

While ordering, ‘‘Set Pandher at liberty forthwith unless he is wanted in any other case’’, the bench reasoned that the CBI had not filed any chargesheet against Pandher on the ground that there was no evidence against him for committing the murder of Rimpa and he was in Australia from January 30 to February 15, 2005, when she was murdered.

From Allegation To Acquittal

Dec 29, 2006 Nithari killings come to light with the discovery of skeletal remains of 8 children in the drain of a house in Nithari, Noida. House owner M S Pandher and his help Surinder Koli arrested

Dec 30 More skeletons tumble out of the drain

Jan 10, 2007 CBI takes over investigation

Feb 8 Special CBI court sends Pandher and Koli to 14 days in CBI custody

Mar 22 CBI files first chargesheet in Gzb court. Slaps lesser charges on Pandher. Koli charged with committing all 19 murders, rape and kidnap

May 1Parents of three victims move court against CBI for letting off Pandher on kidnap, murder charges

May 11 Court asks CBI to probe Pandher’s role

Nov 01SC issues notice to CBI on allegation by victim’s kin that agency is trying to shield Pandher

Feb 13, 2009 Gzb trial court pronounces Pandher and Koli guilty of rape and murder of

14-year-old Rimpa Haldar. Both file appeal

Koli’s confession saved Pandher

Servant Said There Was Nobody In The House When He Killed Rimpa

The Allahabad High Court on Friday acquitted Noida businessman Moninder Singh Pandher for want of evidence in one of the sensational Nithari serial murders, but upheld the death sentence of his domestic help Surinder Koli. The high court said the sessions judge had summoned Pandher mainly on the ground that a number of murders were committed in House D-5, Sector 3 of Noida owned by him and a saw was also recovered on his submission. But, the high court opined, summoning of Pandher under Section 319 of the CrPC was not correct as according to the prosecution, Rimpa was not killed by a saw but a knife to which Surinder had admitted in his confessional statement.

The sessions judge had considered four incriminating circumstances about involvement of Pandher in Rimpa murder case: first, Pandher was continuously living in Pandher’s house; second, dozens of murders were committed there; third, pieces of bodies wrapped in polythene bags were thrown in front and back of the house and lastly, the confessional statement of Koli.

The high court did not agree with the findings of the trial court mainly on the ground that there was no evidence of conspiracy by Pandher in Rimpa’s murder. The confessional statement of Koli, who admitted to the killing ‘‘when no one was present in the house’’, too, completely exonerated Pandher. From the prosecution’s evidence, it was proved that Pandher was in Australia from January 30 to February 15, 2005, while Rimpa was murdered on February 8.

In a terse comment on Koli, the bench observed: ‘‘The crime indulged in by Koli was not only gruesome, and cold but blood-curdling, heinous, atrocious and cruel and in the totality of circumstances, the court could not forbear from expressing that the accused Surinder Koli is a menace to the society.’’

‘The findings recorded are only confined to the murder of Rimpa Haldar and the lower court shall not import any observation/comments in the body of this judgment for being applied to the decision while hearing other cases relating to Nithari incident,’’ the bench observed

The Nithari murders had come to light in December 2006 when the police raided Pandher’s house following complaints by villagers that several of their children had disappeared. Pandher and Koli were arrested for the murder of a girl, Payal, and later a total of 19 cases were registered by the police after human skulls, bones and clothes belonging to young girls were recovered from the house.

Source:- The Times of India 12 Sep. 09 Page No.1 Delhi

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