Key Points

ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2026, the Supreme Court gave murder convict and Bajrang Dal member Rabindra Kumar Pal, alias Dara Singh, two weeks to challenge the Odisha High Court’s decision rejecting the petition for his early release. Singh — who is currently serving life imprisonment for the 1999 murders of Graham Staines and his two sons — had filed for an early release plea arguing that he has already spent 25 years in prison. The High Court’s Sentence Review Board rejected the plea, citing concerns that his release could have “societal ramifications” and trigger communal disturbances.

A two-judge bench of the supreme court — comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi — will be hearing Dara Singh’s amended plea in two weeks time. 

The supreme court had directed the Odisha high court to deliver a decision on Dara Singh’s remission plea after repeated deferment of the matter. At a special meeting held on August 31, 2026, the Sentence Review Board declined to recommend his premature release. The decision comes after the apex court rapped the Odisha authorities over their indecisiveness in coming to a decision about Singh’s release and gave it a deadline till September 17, 2026. “You cannot keep it lingering like this. Accept or reject it. You cannot avoid taking decisions,” the bench had said.

See also: CBI Brings Absconding Accused Harnek Singh Back From US After 13 Years

What was the 1997 Graham Staines Murder Case?

Graham Staines was a Christian missionary of Australian origin, who had settled into the Indian coastal state of Odisha (then known as Orissa) in the 1960s. Residing in Baripada town in the state’s Mayurbhanj district with his wife Gladys and three children, Steines worked with leprosy patients and tribal communities through the Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home and an evangelical mission.

This, however, did not sit right with Hindu extremists of the region — particularly Dara Singh and his associates — who accused Steines of forcibly converting the poor Hindu and Tribal community of the region into christianity. 

On the tragic night of January 22, 1999, Staines and his two sons — Philip, around 10 years old, and Timothy, around 6 years old — attended a religious function in Manoharpur, a small village in the neighboring Keonjhar district. The three were sleeping in their vehicle when a mob of around 50-60 armed people attacked their vehicle and set the vehicle on fire using petrol or kerosene and straw. Staines and his two sons were burned to death as the attackers reportedly blocked their attempts to escape. Slogans including “Jai Bajrang Bali” were also reportedly heard at the scene. 

See also: Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Tear Books of Anne Frank and Malala Yousafzai In Ahmedabad

Staines’ wife, Gladys, and their daughter were not at the location when the incident took place. Court proceedings identified opposition to alleged religious conversion activities among tribal communities as the central motive. However, the June 1999 Wadhwa Commission found no evidence that Staines had carried out forced conversions.

The leader of the mob, Dara Singh — fled the crime scene and spent a year on the run before being arrested on January 31, 2000. He was convicted of the murder of Graham Staines and his sons, and remains lodged in the Kendujhar district jail since. Several reports have also named Bhimasen Mahanta, Rajat Das, and Mahendra Hembram as accused in the Graham Staines murder case. The trial court sentenced all the accused to imprisonment, while Singh was initially handed the death penalty in 2003, which was later commuted to life imprisonment by the Odisha high court. 

In 2024, he approached the Supreme Court seeking remission, stating that he had spent 24 years behind bars. His premature release plea kept getting deferred until the Supreme Court ordered Odisha authorities to reach a decision by September 17, 2026.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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