Graham Staines murder case: SC asks Odisha to take decision on convict Dara Singh’s remission plea

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Odisha Government for not taking a decision on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary 
Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in 1999.

“You take a decision whatever you want to. Otherwise we will take our own. If you don’t take a decision, we will,” a bench of Justices Manoj Misra 
and Vijay Bishnoi told the counsel appearing for the state.

“We can’t tolerate this avoiding taking a decision,” the bench observed.
It noted that the matter has been adjourned time and again to enable the authority to take a decision on the plea of remission of sentence given to Singh, who has been incarcerated for a period exceeding 26 years.
The bench observed that when the matter was adjourned on July 14, the State Sentence Review Board was in the process of taking a decision on Singh’s plea.

It said the counsel representing the state has now placed before it a letter of the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services addressed to the lawyer and stating that a report from the Keonjhar district jail is yet to be received. “We are not informed about the decision of the Sentence Review Board,” the top court said.

While posting the matter for September 2, the bench said the board should take a decision and apprise the court. “We are not concerned about how you are communicating, to what authority you are communicating. You just take a decision,” the bench observed.

The bench said, “But don’t try and dodge us by giving us the letter... How is it relevant? It is the board which has to take a decision.”

Singh, 63, approached the top court in 2024 seeking premature release on the ground that he has served over 24 years in jail and “repented” for his action taken in a fit of “youthful rage”. He said in his plea that he believes in karmic philosophy and prays for an opportunity to reform his character in order to cure the effects of bad karma he has gained through his actions.

While hearing the matter in July, the top court had given the Odisha Government a month to decide on Singh’s remission plea.