The Supreme Court noted that circumstantial evidence against Nithari killings prime accused Surendra Koli was not supported by forensic proof.

The Supreme Court, while acquitting prime accused Surendra Koli, sharply criticised the police investigation into the Nithari killings, saying that the cops neglected key investigation avenues.

The top court acquitted Koli in the lone case in which his life term was still in place. He and his co-accused Mohinder Singh Pandher were already acquitted in several other cases.

The bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Vikram Nath agreed with the Allahabad high court’s previous acquittal, noting that a conviction cannot be based on suspicion alone, especially when Koli had been acquitted in other related cases, India Today

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