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.
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.
The Odisha government has rejected the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons. The Supreme Court has granted Singh's counsel two weeks to challenge this decision. Singh, 63, has been in jail for over 25 years and sought premature release, claiming repentance for his actions.
The Supreme Court has expressed strong displeasure with the Odisha government for delaying a decision on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons. The court has directed the state to make a decision by September 17, warning of summoning officials if the delay persists. Singh, incarcerated for over 26 years, seeks premature release based on his time served and a 2022 state policy.
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.
Under the Odisha state premature release policy, prisoners whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment become eligible for remission after completing 25 years in prison, subject to recommendations by the Odisha State Sentence Review Board and approval by the state government. Dara Singh has now spent more than 26 years in prison.
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.
The Supreme Court has given the Odisha government one month to decide on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal, alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons.
Defence witness Hemalata Karua claimed the event occurred two days before Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death.
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.
In Mayurbhanj shops, business establishments, offices, educational institutions remained open and traffic was normal
While Dara had filed an appeal challenging his conviction and the life sentence awarded to him, CBI has sought enhancement of the life sentence.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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
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."
Justice P Sathasivam was on Friday sworn in as the 40th Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee.
In George Fernandes's passing, many will mourn him -- even those who disagreed vehemently with him, writes Aditi Phadnis.
Even as the BJP makes inroads into previously unfamiliar territories in eastern India, the party will have to be wary of losing out elsewhere, says Amulya Ganguli.
'I do hope the Patel family sues the hell out of the state of Alabama, and I hope the Hindu American Foundation and other community organisations are helping with legal aid and monetary support. For, there is reason to believe that it is religious and racial bias that led to the incident: In other words, a hate crime. There is no reason to suffer that silently.'
The curative petition and other legal remedies still available to Yakub Memon are part of his rights as a prisoner condemned to death. Does the Maharashtra government want to deprive him of these rights, asks Jyoti Punwani.
