Hours before execution, SC stays Koli death penalty

The plea was moved at 1 am before the bench by senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, who urged the bench to assemble urgently since the issue pertained to right to life of a person. Agreeing, the bench assembled and passed the restraining order. The stay order was also communicated to the jail authorities.

On July 24, the same bench had refused to stay the execution, while rejecting Koli’s review petition against confirmation of his death penalty by the Supreme Court. The hearing of the review petition was done in chamber.

However, a week later, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court passed a landmark verdict, ruling that review petition of convicts facing capital punishment warranted an open court hearing since the issue pertained to the right to life. The court also said all death row convicts whose review petitions had been rejected in chamber hearings, but their curative petitions were yet to be decided, could file their review petitions for open court hearings afresh.

The mercy plea of 42-year-old Kohli had recently been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. On September 2, the trial court had issued his death warrant.

Koli, who had killed children and chopped them into pieces in Nithari locality of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was awarded death sentence by a trial court, which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court. The Supreme Court confirmed it in February 2011 for the murder of a 14-year-old girl in 2005. Holding that Koli “appears to be the serial killer”, the court had said, “No mercy can be shown to him.”

A total of 16 cases were registered against Koli and his businessmen employer Moninder Singh Pandher (57) who was also sentenced to death in Rimpa Haldar case. But, Pandher was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court.

Of the 16 cases filed against Koli, he has been awarded death sentence in four of them. The others are still under trial.