Supreme Court puts off Nithari Killer’s execution by at least a week, through an order passed at 1:30 am last night‏

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Surinder Koli, who brutally killed and later axed several children in the Nithari locality of Noida in UP, will not be executed this week, after an order was passed by the Supreme Court at 1.30 am last night. The bench comprising justices H L Dattu and A R Dave stayed the execution for a period of one week.

Justice HL Dattu, who has been appointed Chief Justice of India, passed the late night order from home, on a petition by Koli’s lawyer Indira Jaising seeking review of his death sentence.

This might be the first petition to be heard by three Judges in an open Court.

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In the order passed in the wee hours today, the bench reportedly said, “An application to review the order passed on July 24, 2014 in review petition (of Koli) is placed before us on September 8, 2014. In the application it is stated that execution of death warrant will take place at 5:30 am on Monday, September 8, 2014.”

“For recalling and review of our order, the applicant (Koli) relies upon observation made by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the matter in which the verdict was passed on September 2, 2014,” it said.

The court said, “Considering the urgency of the matter, we stay the execution of the death sentence of applicant/petitioner for a period of one week from today.”

Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh had in July, rejected five mercy petitions, including that of Surinder Koli. He signed these five files recommending to the President that the mercy petitions of Renukabai and Seema (Maharashtra), Koli (Uttar Pradesh), Rajendra Pralhadrao Wasnik (Maharashtra), Jagdish (Madhya Pradesh) and Holiram Bordoloi (Assam) should be rejected.

It was also reported that the Home Ministry has already written to the states concerned — Maharashtra (from where two petitions relating to three convicts were received), UP, Madhya Pradesh and Assam (one case each) — to set in motion the process of execution of the death row convicts. Read the LiveLaw story here.

Koli was sentenced to death along with his employer Moninder Singh Pandher, 54, by the Ghaziabad court on February 13, 2009. The Allahabad High Court had then confirmed Koli’s death sentence on September 11, 2009 while acquitting Pandher of the charges.  Koli’s death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in February, 2011.