The Supreme Court has dismissed the Orissa government over Dara Singh’s pardon plea

This picture shows Graham and Gladys Staines with their children Philip, Esther and Timothy. Dara Singh, whose official name is Rabindra Kumar Pal, was sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, aged 6 and 10, in 1999 | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) pulled up the Odisha government over its delay in deciding whether to pardon Graham Staines Dar Singh’s murder charge and warned that it would summon state officials if the Sentencing Review Board did not take a decision within 10 days.

Staines and his sons, aged six and 10, were sleeping in their vehicle parked outside the church when the mob set fire to it and prevented them from escaping.

Posting Singh’s petition for hearing on September 17, Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi said the state government could not keep delaying the decision.

“You cannot avoid taking a decision. You have to take a decision one way or the other. You have been delaying the decision for two years… Otherwise we will call your secretary or whoever is in charge right now,” the Bench said.

During the hearing, counsel for the Odisha government sought a four-week adjournment and said the state’s decision would be communicated on the next date of hearing.

The bench, however, expressed displeasure over the continued delay, pointing out that it had already directed the state to accept the condonation call in its August 19 order.

“You also sought time last time. Give your decision. We specifically said that you will decide by the next date… Why are you asking for adjournment unnecessarily? You cannot delay it like this,” the Bench said, adding that the decision is pending for over two years.

The state counsel assured the bench that the decision would be taken by the next hearing and that the Advocate General of Orissa would be present in the court.

The court, therefore, posted the case for hearing on September 17 and ordered the state to inform it about the decision taken on the pardon application.

Singh, whose official name is Rabindra Kumar Pal, was sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, aged 6 and 10, in 1999. The Orissa High Court upheld his conviction in 2005, but commuted the death sentence1 imposed by the court201.

In 2024, Singh approached the Supreme Court seeking early release after spending more than two decades in prison. He sought the benefits of Odisha’s Early Release Policy 2022, citing his age, conduct in prison, length of imprisonment and remorse for the crime. His petition states that he “deeply regrets” his actions, which he attributed to “the zeal of youth.”

His request for clemency has previously been considered and rejected by five sentence review boards, most recently in February 2024.

In addition to the Staines murder case, Singh is serving life sentences in two other cases in which he was convicted in 2007. The convictions were upheld by the High Court in 2022 and in one of the cases in 2023 by the Supreme Court.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 20:02 IST