Graham Staines murder: Odisha tells Supreme Court it has rejected convict Dara Singh’s remission plea

The Odisha government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has rejected the remission plea moved by Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons [Rabindra Kumar Pal @ Dara Singh v. State of Odisha]..A Bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi were hearing Singh's plea challenging delays by the Odisha government in deciding on his plea for premature release from prison. The Court had earlier strongly criticised the Odisha government for continuing to delay its decision in the matter. Today, counsel representing the State of Odisha informed the Court that the competent authority has passed an order turning down Singh’s remission request on August 31. The Court proceeded to grant Dara Singh liberty to amend his plea to formally challenge the Odisha government's rejection of his remission plea. "You take a copy of the order. Take whatever grounds you want to challenge it. Amend your plea and argue," the Bench told the Dara Singh's counsel.The matter is listed next after three weeks. "The State has rejected the plea of remission vide order dated 31-08-2026. Copy of the order has been supplied to learned counsel representing the petitioner. The counsel for the petitioner prays for two weeks' time to file an appropriate amendment application," the Court recorded in the order passed today. .Dara Singh was convicted for leading a mob that set alight a station wagon in Manoharpur, Odisha, in January 1999, killing Graham Staines and his sons, Philip (10) and Timothy (6), while they slept inside.The trial court awarded Singh the death penalty in 2003. In 2005, the Orissa High Court commuted the punishment to life imprisonment, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.He eventually moved a plea before the top court seeking a remission of his prison sentence. The Court was told that the Odisha government was delaying its decision in the matter. Singh's counsel, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain argued that Singh is now over 60 years old, has spent more than 24 years behind bars without parole, and has been reformed.The Court had earlier granted several adjournments in the case, to give time for the Odisha government to decide on Singh's remission plea. However, no such decision was conveyed over multiple hearings, leading to strong criticism from the Court. On September 8 as well, the Bench pulled up the Odisha administration for sitting on Singh’s remission plea for over two years. At the time, the Court warned that it would summon the State’s senior officers if the Sentence Review Board failed to decide the matter one way or the other.Today, the State conveyed that a decision was taken on August 31 by the appropriate authority to reject Singh's remission plea. With the State's rejection order now on record, the matter will be taken up after three weeks to consider Singh’s amended challenge..[Read Live Coverage]