Odisha board rejects Dara Singh's premature release plea ahead of Supreme Court hearing

Odisha’s State Sentence Review Board has rejected a plea for the premature release of Dara Singh, 67, who is serving a life sentence for burning alive Australian missionary Graham Staines, 58, and his sons aged 10 and seven as they slept in 1999.

The decision ends months of uncertainty over Singh’s remission plea ahead of the September 17 Supreme Court hearing. The court had last week directed the state government to take a clear position on the matter.

Singh has spent over 26 years and six months in prison. He became eligible for consideration for premature release under Odisha’s 2022 remission guidelines and approached the Supreme Court in 2024, seeking directions to the Odisha government to consider his release under those guidelines.

Board cites concerns over communal harmony

The State Sentence Review Board considered Singh’s case at a special meeting on August 31. It said his release could have societal ramifications and potentially lead to communal disturbances.

The board cited the latest report from the Keonjhar district administration and said it did not contain a specific recommendation on Singh’s release, describing it as inconclusive. It nevertheless recommended against his premature release.

In March 2025, the district administration in Keonjhar, where Singh is imprisoned, had recommended his premature release, provided conditions were imposed to ensure social harmony. In its latest report, however, the administration reported that about 200 to 250 people associated with the Dara Sena raised provocative slogans outside the Keonjhar District Jail on August 15. HT has reviewed details of the board meeting proceedings.

The board has rejected Singh’s premature release on five previous occasions, in 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023, citing grounds including concerns over communal harmony.

Supreme Court repeatedly questioned delay

The Supreme Court had warned that state officials could be summoned if the board continued to delay its decision. On August 19, the court directed the board to decide by September 2 and inform it of the outcome.

“You want to reject it, you do it. You take a decision. We will deal with it. You can’t keep it lingering like this,” the court said.

The August 19 order recorded that the matter had been adjourned repeatedly to enable the state to decide on Singh’s remission plea. The court had also noted that the report from District Jail, Kendujhar, was still awaited.

On September 8, the Supreme Court again criticised the delay and warned that it could summon the concerned officials if the state failed to take a decision. The bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi adjourned the matter to September 17.

The court had earlier, in July 2024, noted that Singh had spent more than 24 years in custody and said his plea for premature release should have been considered.

Singh's convictions and remission history

A Central Bureau of Investigation court sentenced Singh to death in 2003 after convicting him of murder, criminal conspiracy and rioting. In 2005, the Orissa high court acquitted 11 other accused and commuted Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court dismissed Singh’s appeal against the conviction.

The Supreme Court later upheld his life sentence, with reports noting that it did not consider the case to fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting capital punishment.

Singh was also convicted of the killing of Catholic priest Father Arul Doss and trader SK Rahman in Mayurbhanj. He was sentenced to life in both cases in 2007. The high court dismissed his appeals.

One of the convicts in the Staines case, Mahendra Hembram, was released prematurely in April 2025.

Singh’s remission pleas were dismissed even as government records showed his generally good prison conduct. He went on hunger strikes in 2006 and 2008 and has never been released on parole or furlough. The high court and Keonjhar district magistrate rejected his two parole applications.

The board deferred the matter in May 2025, citing his convictions in three murder cases and seeking further reports. It again deferred the case in September 2025, seeking a fresh opinion from authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Auraiya, where Singh is originally from. The Auraiya authorities supported his premature release in February 2026.

In July 2026, the Supreme Court was informed that the state board was still considering Singh’s plea. The court directed the board to take a decision within a month after being told that certain records were still awaited.

The matter subsequently remained pending despite the board considering Singh’s case along with those of other life convicts. In July 2026, Odisha granted premature release to 19 life convicts, but Singh was not among those released. His case was deferred for further consideration.

The board’s latest rejection now leaves the Supreme Court to consider the state’s position at the September 17 hearing.