Nithari case: SC pulls up CBI for delaying Koli's plea against death

A bench of justices Markandya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra told CBI that it cannot indefinitely delay the trial by coming out with lame excuses as it involved the life and death of a person. "This is not a high school where you can come out with lame excuses like sir my cycle tyre has punctured so there is delay. It is a question of life and death. The person is on the death row. You can't delay it indefinitely," the bench said, when CBI counsel T A Khan sought further time to file certain documents.

The apex court said it had issued a notice to the agency on November 26 but it is yet to file a response. "It is almost three months. What were you doing?" the bench said reiterating that it involved a person who is on the death rows.

Later, the bench passed an order saying it was giving one last opportunity to CBI to file the documents within a week. "It is made clear that there will be no further adjournments in the matter," the bench said.

Earlier, the apex court had asked CBI to place all relevant records relating to the case before it for taking up the appeal. It had said it will hear Koli's appeal along with the cross-appeal filed by victim Rimpa Haldar's father Anil Haldar who has challenged the Allahabad high court's decision to acquit Moninder Singh Pandher, the other key accused and employer of Koli.

Koli was sentenced to death along with Pandher by the sessions court in Ghaziabad on February 13, 2009, and the Allahabad high court on September 11, 2009 confirmed Koli's death sentence while acquitted Pandher of the charges.

Aggrieved, Anil Haldar filed the appeal challenging Pandher's acquittal and seeking restoration of the death sentence awarded by the sessions court.