Supreme Court Adjourns Dara Singh Release Case to September 17
The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing on the remission plea of Dara Singh, convicted in the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, to September 17, 2026.
The bench expressed displeasure over the Odisha government’s failure to submit the Sentence Review Board report, despite repeated directions.
The court granted a final opportunity to present the report and clarify the stage of consideration.
Dara Singh, initially sentenced to death in 2003, had his punishment commuted to life imprisonment by the Orissa High Court in 2005, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
He has now spent over 26 years in prison.
His counsel argued for release under Odisha’s remission policy, which allows premature release of lifers after 25 years, citing reformative principles of justice and drawing parallels with the 2022 release of convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The apex court will take up the matter again on September 17, when the government is expected to submit the pending report.
