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Nithari killings: Koli's death sentence commuted by HC

Nithari killings: Koli's death sentence commuted by HC
GHAZIABAD, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Nithari rapist-cum-serial killer Surinder Koli being taken back to Dasna jail on September 17, 2014 in Ghaziabad, India. Koli was taken to Meerut Jail for execution of his death sentence, but on September 12 Supreme Court extended the stay on his execution till October 29. He was sentenced to death for killing five children in a house in Nithari village in Noida near here in 2006. (Photo by Sakib Ali/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
GHAZIABAD, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Nithari rapist-cum-serial killer Surinder Koli being taken back to Dasna jail on September 17, 2014 in Ghaziabad, India. Koli was taken to Meerut Jail for execution of his death sentence, but on September 12 Supreme Court extended the stay on his execution till October 29. He was sentenced to death for killing five children in a house in Nithari village in Noida near here in 2006. (Photo by Sakib Ali/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Allahabad--The death sentence of Surender Koli, convicted in 2006 Nithari serial killings case, was today commuted to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court on the ground of "inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P K S Baghel held that execution of Koli's death sentence would be "unconstitutional in view of the inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition.

The order came on a Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) which contended that the period elapsed in disposal of Koli's mercy petition was "3 years and 3 months" and, as such, execution of death sentence would be in violation of the Right to Life granted in Article 21 of the Constitution.

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