The Odisha government has officially rejected the remission petition filed by Ravindra Pal, also known as Dara Singh, who is currently serving a life sentence for the 1999 slaying of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children. The Supreme Court has provided him with a two-week period to modify his petition.
In a session held on Thursday in New Delhi, the Odisha government informed the Supreme Court about its decision regarding Singh’s request for remission. The bench, comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi, advised Singh’s counsel to present any arguments they deem necessary to contest the decision. They also noted that Singh’s legal representative has been provided with a copy of the order denying the remission plea.
The court permitted Singh’s counsel to submit an amendment application within two weeks and scheduled the next hearing for three weeks later. Earlier proceedings had seen the Supreme Court reprimanding the Odisha government for delaying their decision on Singh’s remission request.
At 63 years of age, Singh has spent over 25 years in prison. In 2024, he appealed to the Supreme Court for an early release, arguing that his lengthy incarceration—over 24 years—has led him to reflect on his actions committed in a moment of ‘youthful rage.’
Singh was the ringleader of a mob that attacked Staines and his sons, 11-year-old Philip and 8-year-old Timothy, while they were asleep in their vehicle, which was subsequently set on fire in Manoharpur village, Keonjhar district, during the night of January 22-23, 1999.
Initially sentenced to death by a CBI court in 2003, Singh’s punishment was later commuted to life imprisonment by the Orissa High Court in 2005, a decision that was ratified by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Graham Staines and his wife, Gladys, were associated with the Mayurbhanj Evangelical Missionary, which provided care for individuals suffering from leprosy. Gladys Staines, who received the Padma Shri award in 2005, publicly forgave those responsible for the deaths of her husband and children, expressing that she harbors no resentment towards them.
