Odisha rejects Dara Singh’s remission plea in Graham Staines murder case, tells SC

The Odisha government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has rejected the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi allowed Singh two weeks to amend his petition in light of the state's decision and posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.

Also Read: Odisha govt rejects Dara Singh's plea for release from jail in Graham Staines, sons' murder case


“You take whatever grounds you want to take to challenge it. Amend your petition and then argue,” the bench told Singh's counsel.

The court noted that a copy of the order rejecting the remission plea had been supplied to Singh's lawyer.

“The counsel representing the petitioner (Singh) prays for and is allowed two weeks to file an appropriate amendment application,” the bench said.

The development comes days after the Supreme Court pulled up the Odisha government for failing to take a decision on Singh's remission plea. The court had earlier warned that it could summon senior officials if the state continued to delay its decision.

Singh has spent over 25 years in jail

Singh, who is in his 60s, approached the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking premature release, saying he had spent more than 24 years in prison and had “repented” for his actions, which he described as having been committed in a fit of “youthful rage”. The Supreme Court's case records identify the matter as Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 301 of 2024.

The case relates to the killing of Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, in Odisha's Keonjhar district in January 1999.

A mob led by Singh attacked Staines and his sons while they were sleeping in their station wagon at Manoharpur village on the intervening night of January 22 and 23, 1999, and set the vehicle on fire.

Also Read: Graham Staines murder: SC directs Odisha sentence review board to decide on murder convict Dara Singh's premature release plea

Singh, the main accused in the case, was convicted by a CBI court in 2003 and sentenced to death. The Orissa High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.

Staines and his wife Gladys worked with the Mayurbhanj Evangelical Missionary, which cared for leprosy patients.

Gladys Staines, who received the Padma Shri in 2005, had said she forgave those responsible for the deaths of her husband and sons and bore no bitterness towards them.

The Odisha State Sentence Review Board had considered Singh's premature-release plea on August 31 and rejected it, according to reports. The decision was communicated to the Supreme Court ahead of Thursday's hearing.

The Supreme Court will now consider Singh's amended petition challenging the state's decision.