The main accused Dara Singh has already challenged his conviction and sentence, while the CBI has filed an appeal against the acquittal of 12 other accused.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea for death penalty to Dara Singh, convicted for burning to death Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons.
A referral hospital that would focus mostly on the marginalised and the vulnerable and those bypassed by development in tribal villages of Keonjhar district was inaugurated in Baripada on Thursday.
She is the widow of slain Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines.
But Gladys Staines has not decided whether she will permit the making of a film on her slain husband.
Gladys Staines, widow of Graham Staines, on Friday expressed satisfaction over the Supreme Court judgement that upheld life term for Dara Singh, who has been convicted for the murder of her husband and two minor sons. Gladys Staines, who has been staying in Australia after the killing of her missionary husband and two sons in 1999, was happy that Dara Singh and his accomplice Mahendra Hembram were convicted in the case.
The Supreme Court of India has directed the Odisha government to decide within six weeks on a plea for remission filed by Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the murders of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons in 1999. Singh, who has spent over 24 years in prison, claims to have "repented" his actions and seeks an opportunity to reform his character. The court issued the notice after Singh argued that he has already served more than the required period of sentence and that his right to liberty is being jeopardized by the delay in processing his plea.
Hembrom along with the main accused Ravinder Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, was found guilty of burning to death Staines and his minor sons, Philip and Timothy, outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district of Orissa on January 22, 1999.
Expunging the second last sentence of paragraph 43 of the 76-page ruling, a bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan replaced it by saying, "After 12 years, the life imprisonment given by the high court need not be interfered with."
She plans to return to Orissa periodically to monitor a referral hospital in Baripada, her husband's dream project, which she had inaugurated on July 8, 2004.
Dara Singh, who was sentenced to life for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his 2 minor sons, on Tuesday challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Friday came out strongly against the practice of conversion, while upholding the life sentence for Dara Singh, who was convicted for burning alive Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in January 1999. "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by way of use of force, provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other," it said.
Defence witness Hemalata Karua claimed the event occurred two days before Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death.
While Dara had filed an appeal challenging his conviction and the life sentence awarded to him, CBI has sought enhancement of the life sentence.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused custodial parole to Dara Singh, who is serving life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, to perform rituals related to the immersion of ashes of his father. A bench comprising justices P Sathasivam and H L Dattu said it cannot grant custodial parole to Ravindra Pal Singh alias Dara Singh, to travel from Orissa to Allahabad for immersing the ashes of his father, who had died in 2003.
Singh has sought the application of a more liberal remission policy to ensure his premature release from a prison in the state where he is lodged for more than 24 years.
Dara's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sujit Barman Roy and\nJustice Laxmikant Mohapatra.
Deposing before district and sessions judge M N Patnaik, investigating officer Joginder Nayak said he had found no link between the Bajrang Dal and the 18 persons chargesheeted in the case.
In Mayurbhanj shops, business establishments, offices, educational institutions remained open and traffic was normal
CBI moved the SC on Monday challenging the Orissa High court's order to reduce capital punishment to life imprsonment for Dara Singh, who burnt alive Australian missionary Graham Staines, and pressed for his death penalty.
"I am very happy at the outcome, but I will go to the Supreme Court for acquittal," Dara's lawyer Asit Otta quoted him as saying.
Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, convicted in the killing of Australiam missionary Graham Staines and his minor sons, filed his nomination for Ghasipura assembly constituency in Orissa, a top official said.
A severed human head, suspected of that of a woman, was recovered from a garbage dump in Kolkata's Tollygunge area on Friday morning, police said.
Dara Singh, serving a life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines, was on Saturday sentenced to a life term for the killing of a Catholic priest in Mayurbhanj district eight years ago.
Dara Singh, serving a life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, and 12 others were acquitted on Monday in a case relating to the burning of a truck and murder of its helper.
District Judge Sachidananda Sahu convicted Dara Singh for the murder of garment trader Sheikh Rehman on August 26, 1999 at a market at Padiagada in Mayurbhanj district
District and Sessions Judge M N Patnaik, while sentencing Dara Singh, the main accused in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, said: "This is one of the rarest of rare cases."
The postponement was because District and Sessions Judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik, in whose court the case was tried for two-and-a-half years, was down with viral fever, according to reports.
He and 14 others had been accused of looting the Kendumundi weekly market on November 15, 1998.\n\n\n\n
The 78-year-old Naveen is on the cusp of creating history. He must win the forthcoming Assembly polls to become India's longest-serving chief minister, a record held by Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling.
Prime Minister Modi saw a reflection of himself -- she does not come from a political background, has no lineage, and had a lifetime of personal struggle and sacrifice.
The PM's choice of ministers is interesting, to say the least, says Jyoti Punwani.
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