On Tuesday, the Supreme Court set aside the conviction of Surendra Koli in one of the Nithari murder cases, pertaining to the rape and murder of a teenage girl, and directed that he be released if not wanted in any other case. The acquittal in the final case against him comes after he was acquitted in 12 cases related to the murders by the Allahabad High Court in October 2023.The killings came to light in December 2006, when the skeletal remains of eight children had been discovered from a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s house in Noida’s Nithari village. Koli worked at Pandher’s house as a domestic help.Pandher and Koli, who were arrested the same month, were accused of abducting and raping children and women, committing acts of cannibalism, and disposing of their bodies in a drain. Koli allegedly killed the girls and chopped their bodies before throwing them in the backyard.The police had lodged 19 FIRs against the two in connection with alleged crimes against 19 girls. Koli was accused in 13 cases and Pandher in six.In the space of 14 years, two benches of the Allahabad High Court gave vastly different rulings in the case.In 2023, the Allahabad HC had acquitted Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two. Both had earlier been awarded the death penalty in these cases relating to rape, murder, and the destruction of evidence, among others, by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad. At the root of the acquittal was a “botched” investigation, aspersions of a coerced confession, and procedural lapses by the probe agency.However, in 2009, the Allahabad HC had taken a contrary stand, seeing weight in the prosecution’s case and evidence furnished by it — including Koli’s confessional statement. While the division bench had set aside Pandher’s conviction, it affirmed Koli’s sentence and conviction for murder and rape.Here is a look at the two rulings:2009 rulingStory continues below this adThe Allahabad HC in 2009 had examined four incriminating circumstances that the trial court had relied on for Pandher and 12 incriminating circumstances for Koli.For Pandher, the incriminating circumstances were that he was residing at the Noida residence continuously where Koli was living with him as his domestic help till the killings were uncovered; that dozens of murders were committed in this very kothi; that pieces of bodies were thrown after wrapping them in polythene around the house; and a confessional statement of Koli incriminating Pandher. In all four instances, the HC had found there was no admissible evidence to substantiate the allegations.For Koli, of the 12 incriminating circumstances that the trial court relied on, the HC upheld all but one. Incriminating circumstances included: clothing articles of the minor were recovered which were identified by her parents; Koli’s confessional statement; that Koli was in the habit of standing outside the house in a bid to lure girls and children on the pretext of arranging work and other allurements for them. It also included recovery of skulls, bones, hair, clothes from around the house; DNA comparison of the victim’s remains with her relatives; a demonstration by Koli on how he allegedly used to cut up the bodies before a committee; and a knife and an axe recovery made with Koli’s assistance.Referring to the witness depositions, the HC held that the prosecution had successfully proven 11 of the 12 incriminating circumstances.Story continues below this adOnly with regard to Koli’s demonstration of cutting up the bodies, where the trial court had relied on testimonies of forensic expert Manish Kummath and assistant professor at AIIMS Dr Sanjeev Lalwani, the HC had “eschewed” the circumstance from consideration as such evidence was not admissible under the Evidence Act.2023 rulingWhile acquitting Koli in 12 cases, the Allahabad HC in 2023 had made a note of the “botched” investigation where “basic norms of collecting evidence were brazenly violated” to opt for “the easy course of implicating a poor servant of the house by demonising him…”Some of the lacunae that the division bench made a note of were:-Prosecution case is based on Koli’s confession made to UP Police in December 2006, where procedure required to be followed for recording the accused’s disclosure, leading to recovery of biological remains i.e. skulls, bones and skeleton etc, has been given a complete go by.-Motive on part of the accused is not established.Story continues below this ad-Koli was in police custody for 60 days — from December 29, 2006, to January 14, 2007 — but was not medically examined to rule out the possibility of physical torture.-Koli retracted his confession and alleged he was brutally tortured in police custody. Notably, the retraction of his confession was not taken into consideration by the HC in 2009, when it upheld his conviction. It had reasoned that the confessional statement was as per due process, was corroborated in material particulars by other cogent and reliable evidence, and was voluntary and truthful.On the other hand, the 2023 verdict ruled that Koli’s confession “is otherwise contradicted by evidence on record and, therefore, cannot be treated to be truthful”.-No independent corroboration of murder, rape or cannibalism in the confession with other evidence on record.Story continues below this ad-Absence of any disclosure statement by Koli; non-specification of the time, place and contents of disclosure; absence of independent witnesses and contradictory version of contents of information furnished. In the absence of a disclosure statement, recovery of biological remains, knife etc fails the test under the Evidence Act to be considered as evidence.-Narcoanalysis and brain mapping tests were conducted on Koli while in police custody without the presence of a magistrate, and, thus, cannot be viewed as an act of voluntary consent on part of Koli, making it inadmissible evidence.The Allahabad HC’s 2023 acquittal was confirmed by the SC in July this year.(With inputs from Nirbhay Thakur)