Nithari: Koli wants pvt prosecutor

Surender Koli, one of the prime accused in the Nithari-serial killings of Noida, on Thursday requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Ghaziabad to provide him private lawyer of his choice.

Surender Koli, one of the prime accused in the Nithari-serial killings of Noida, on Thursday requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Ghaziabad to provide him private lawyer of his choice.

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Koli has accused that he was not properly represented by the government lawyers provided to him for his cases.

The CBI court, headed by judge Shyam Lal, accepted Koli's application and scheduled the disposal of his application for April 5.

Koli is presently represented by 16 lawyers, amicus curiae, provided to him at the expense of the government in as many number of cases in which the CBI filed chargesheets against him.

In four such cases, Koli was awarded death penalty by the CBI court at Ghaziabad and presently 12 of his cases are under trial.

“I am not well represented by the lawyers assigned to me in my cases. As I am a poor man, I have no funds to hire a private lawyer. So, I have requested the court to provide me a lawyer who can fight my case with sincerity," Koli told Hindustan Times.

CBI's senior public prosecutor JP Sharma said the amicus curiae were provided to under-trials who cannot bear the expenses for hiring a private lawyer. "There is no provision as such to hire a private lawyer through the government expenses," Sharma said.

Nithari serial-killings got exposed in December, 2006 when several human bones, skulls and other items were recovered from a drain near businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's residence at sector-31 in Noida.

Koli was employed at Pandher’s residence and was accused of killings of minors during the alleged crime.