India, Nov. 17 -- Curtains have come down on the nearly two-decade-old legal process concerning the Nithari killings, with the main person, Surender Koli, allegedly linked to the horrific incidents of murder, rape and kidnapping, walking free after remaining in jail for approximately 19 years.

His release followed the Supreme Court's decision to acquit him by allowing his Curative Petition in the one remaining case in which he had been convicted and was serving a life sentence. Previously, the Allahabad High Court had acquitted him in the other 12 cases, a decision which was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court.

A Curative Petition is the final judicial recourse available to an aggrieved person in the Supreme Court, after their ap...