The Supreme Court of India on 9 July issued a notice to the Odisha government regarding a remission plea filed by Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons.
A two-judge bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti has given the state government six weeks to file a detailed reply on Singh's petition. The court will hear the matter further after receiving the response.
Singh, also known as Ravindra Pal, was convicted for leading a mob that attacked Graham Staines and his sons, 11-year-old, Philip, and 8-year-old, Timothy, while they slept in their station wagon in Manoharpur village, Keonjhar district. The assailants set the vehicle on fire, resulting in the deaths of all three victims on the night of 22-23 January 1999.
The then President of India, KR Narayanan had condemned the killings calling them “a barbarous crime belonging to the world's inventory of black deeds.”
Staines and his wife Gladys had worked with the Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home for 30 years, caring for leprosy patients in Odisha.
Singh, now 61, was initially sentenced to death by a CBI court in 2003. The Orissa High Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment in 2005, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
In his current petition, Singh cites the Supreme Court's 2022 judgment that granted mercy to A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Advocate Vishnu Jain, appearing for Singh, argued for his client's release on similar grounds.
Singh's plea states that he has served more than 24 years in prison and has "repented" for his actions. He claims he was "overwhelmed by distress at the barbaric deeds inflicted upon India by the Mughals and the British" at the time of the crime.
The petition highlights that Singh has already served more than the qualified period of 14 years stipulated in the remission policy dated April 19, 2022. It also mentions that he has never been released on parole and was unable to perform the last rites when his mother passed away.
Singh seeks a direction to the Odisha government to consider his case in accordance with the 2022 guidelines for premature release of life convicts. His plea cites the concept of reformative justice, quoting former Supreme Court Justice V R Krishna Iyer: "Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future."
The petition also alleges that state authorities have failed to address several representations sent for his remission and premature release, potentially jeopardising his right under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Notably, Mehendra Hembram, an accomplice of Singh, is also serving life imprisonment in the case, while 11 other accused were acquitted by the high court due to lack of evidence.
The case has drawn attention in Odisha's political circles. Current Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, of the BJP, who represents the Keonjhar Assembly segment, had previously supported the demand for Singh's release from jail during his stint as the Opposition chief whip.
Speaking to Christian Today, Allen Brooks, spokesperson of the Assam Christian Forum said, “With the BJP state government of Odisha barley a month old, the Saffron Brigade is going back to its old tactics to obtain release for its henchmen who have been convicted. It's time that the Christian Community stands together and demand justice by the law of the land.”
As the Odisha government prepares its response to the Supreme Court's notice, the case continues to evoke strong emotions due to the brutal nature of the crime against Graham Staines and his young sons, which shocked both the nation and the international community.
