Supreme Court Orders Odisha to Decide Dara Singh’s Release Plea by September 2

The Supreme Court has directed the Odisha State Sentence Review Board to take a final decision on the premature release plea of Rabindra Kumar Pal, alias Dara Singh, by September 2, 2026.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi expressed displeasure over repeated delays, warning that if the state fails to act, the Court itself will intervene.

Odisha’s counsel informed the bench that a report from Kendujhar District Jail is awaited, but the Court insisted that the matter cannot be postponed further.

Dara Singh has been in prison for over 26 years following his conviction in the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons.

Originally sentenced to death in 2003, Singh’s punishment was commuted to life imprisonment by the Orissa High Court in 2005, and the Supreme Court upheld the life term in 2011, ruling that the case did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category.

The directive now places responsibility on Odisha’s Sentence Review Board to weigh justice, rehabilitation, and victims’ rights before making its decision.