Allahabad High Court Acquits Pandher and Koli of Nithari Murders, Slams Prosecution for Casual Investigation

The Allahabad High Court cleared M.S. Pandher and Surendra Koli of the Nithari murders on Monday, stating that their guilt had not been established "beyond a reasonable doubt" and accusing the prosecution of "betrayal of public trust" due to its careless investigation.

The court stated, "To put it mildly, it is extremely disheartening how important aspects of arrest, recovery, and confession have been handled in such a casual and perfunctory manner."

It was observed that the prosecution kept shifting its story; at first, it credited Pandher and Koli together with the recoveries, but afterwards, "the guilt was fastened exclusively" on Koli.

It was mentioned that every human remains recovery came from a drain outside of the boundaries of Houses D-5 (Pandher's) and D-6 (a doctor suspected of organ trade).

"No head, bones, or skeleton has been recovered from within House No. D-5. The only items recovered inside House No. D-5 are two knives and an axe, which the court stated were allegedly used to cut the victims' body parts after they were strangled to death—a fact that is acknowledged since they were not used for rape, murder, or other crimes.

It called the prosecution's decision to forgo looking into the potential role of the organ trade a "betrayal of public trust," especially in light of particular suggestions made by a high-level committee that the government had established.

It claimed that by "demonising him," the investigation chose "the easy course of implicating a poor servant."

"There is a high probability of inferences of various kinds, such as collusion, resulting from significant errors that occurred during the investigation," the statement stated.

"The government should act against those responsible for weak pleading in the court in this horrible case," stated Ajay Kumar, an advocate from the Allahabad High Court who was not involved in the case.