Today, On 20th August, In the Staines murder case, the Supreme Court requested a response from the Odisha government regarding the remission plea of convict Dara Singh. Singh convicted for his role in the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, On Tuesday, requested a response from the Odisha government regarding the remission plea of Ravindra Pal, also known as Dara Singh, who serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons in Keonjhar district in 1999.
Singh petitioned for the application of a more lenient remission policy to facilitate his early release, having been incarcerated for over 24 years.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the Odisha government to respond within two weeks. The bench acknowledged the gravity of the offense but also took note of the arguments presented by Vishnu Shanker Jain, the lawyer representing Singh. Jain argued that a more liberal remission policy should be applied to Singh’s case, emphasizing that he has already served 24 years and six months in prison.
The bench stated,
“We have issued the notice and requested a response within two weeks.”
A mob led by Dara Singh attacked Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons, 11-year-old Philip and 8-year-old Timothy, while they were asleep in their station wagon, setting the vehicle ablaze in Manoharpur village, Keonjhar district, on the night of January 22-23, 1999.
Dara Singh, the primary accused in this horrific triple murder, initially sentenced to death by a CBI court in 2003. However, the Orissa High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Mahendra Hembram, an accomplice of Singh, is also serving a life sentence for his role in the crime, while 11 other accused acquitted by the High Court due to insufficient evidence.
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Graham Staines and his wife, Gladys, were dedicated to working with the Mayurbhanj Evangelical Missionary organization, providing care for leprosy patients. Despite the tragedy, Gladys Staines, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2005, publicly stated that she had forgiven her husband and sons’ killers and harbours no resentment towards them.
Meanwhile, another bench of the Supreme Court currently considering a separate petition filed by Singh seeking similar relief.