NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Nithari killings convict Surinder Koli by a week. The bench comprising justices H L Dattu and A R Dave passed the order in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, staying Koli’s execution on a appeal by him.
Koli, whose mercy petition was rejected by the President, was to be hanged on Monday morning in the Meerut jail, sources said on Sunday.
“We will withhold the execution of Surinder Koli for 7 days and then wait for further orders,” SM Rizvi, Meerut Jail superintendent said.
Koli was transferred from the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad district to Meerut on September 4 for the execution of his death warrant issued by the CBI court.
Officials earlier said he was to be hanged any time between September 7 and 12.
Although jail officials were tightlipped about the exact date of execution, speculation was rife that the Nithari killer may be hanged at 5.30am on Monday, sources said.
READ ALSO: Surinder Koli, Nithari killer, to be hanged on Monday?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad issued a death warrant to Koli after his mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Koli was shifted to Meerut because of the absence of hanging facilities in Dasna.
Koli was convicted for the murder of a girl Rimpa Halder who went missing in Noida in December 2006. After a police investigation, she was found to have been murdered by Koli.
During the probe, the skeletal remains of many other children were recovered from a drain adjacent to a house in Noida where Koli worked as domestic help for businessman Moninder Singh Pandher.
Both Koli and Pandher were sentenced to death, but later the Allahabad high court acquitted Pandher and upheld the death sentence of Koli.
Koli’s sentence was then upheld by the Supreme Court. He filed a mercy petition before the President which was turned down.
TOI | Sep 8, 2014
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