The Odisha government has turned down the premature release petition of Ravindra Pal, commonly known as Dara Singh, who is serving a life term for the 1999 burning to death of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons.
The state government communicated its decision to the Supreme Court on Thursday, following which a bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi granted Singh’s legal team two weeks to modify his existing plea to formally challenge the rejection order. The court scheduled the next hearing in the matter for three weeks later.
Two-Week Window Granted to Challenge Rejection
During Thursday’s proceedings, the Supreme Court noted that a copy of the state administration’s rejection order had been handed over to Singh’s counsel. The bench directed the defense that they were free to raise any grounds they deemed fit to dispute the decision, instructing them to amend the petition before presenting their arguments.
The state’s formal refusal comes after the top court had previously reprimanded the Odisha government for sitting on Singh’s remission application without arriving at a determination.
Plea Cited Decades in Prison and Remorse
Singh, currently 63 years old, has spent more than 25 years incarcerated. He moved the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking an early release on the grounds of long confinement and personal reformation. In his petition, Singh stated that he had already completed over 24 years behind bars and expressed remorse for his actions, describing them as having been committed during an episode of youthful rage.
The 1999 Killings and Legal Trajectory
The case dates back to the night of January 22–23, 1999, in Manoharpur village, situated in Odisha’s Keonjhar district. A mob spearheaded by Singh ambushed Graham Staines and his two sons—11-year-old Philip and eight-year-old Timothy—while they were asleep inside their station wagon. The assailants set the vehicle on fire, killing all three occupants.
Following a probe and trial, a Central Bureau of Investigation court held Singh to be the principal perpetrator and awarded him capital punishment in 2003. Two years later, in 2005, the Orissa High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment. That verdict was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Missionary Background and Aftermath
Prior to the killings, Staines and his wife, Gladys Staines, had been working under the aegis of the Mayurbhanj Evangelical Missionary, providing medical care and assistance to individuals afflicted with leprosy.
Gladys Staines, who received the Padma Shri in 2005 in recognition of her social work, publicly forgave the individuals responsible for the deaths of her husband and children, stating that she harbored no ill will toward them.
