The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Odisha government in response to a petition filed by Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his minor sons. The court has requested a reply from the Odisha government within six weeks.
The case is being heard by a bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy. During the proceedings, Vishnu Jain, representing Dara Singh, argued that Singh has already spent over 24 years in prison. Jain highlighted that, under Odisha state rules, the remission period for a life sentence is 25 years, urging the Supreme Court to consider Singh’s petition for release.
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Dara Singh is seeking a pardon and has requested an order for his release, citing the precedent of the release of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins. In his petition, Singh expressed regret for the crime committed more than two decades ago, stating that he had no personal enmity with Graham Staines.
The tragic incident occurred on January 22, 1999, when Dara Singh led a mob that set fire to the vehicle in which Graham Staines and his two sons were sleeping. Staines, operate an ashram for leprosy patients, and his sons kill in the blaze.
In 2003, the Khordha High Court sentenced Dara Singh to death and handed life sentences to 12 other individuals involved in the murder. However, the Orissa High Court later commuted Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
As the Supreme Court reviews Singh’s plea, the Odisha government’s forthcoming response will be crucial in determining whether his sentence may remitte.
