India, Nov. 12 -- New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Surendra Koli in the last of 13 cases pertaining to the Nithari killings incident, holding that the 2011 verdict upholding his guilt could not be sustained when he had already been acquitted in 12 other connected cases arising from the same set of facts and evidentiary material. Koli was previously convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in this particular case.

The Nithari killings, which came to light in 2006, shocked the country after skeletal remains of several children were recovered from a drain behind the Noida house of businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, where Koli worked as a domestic help. Koli and Pandher were arrested after the revelations triggered nati...