Bhubaneswar: The Odisha units of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] have opposed any move to grant premature release to Rabindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons, urging both the Supreme Court and the state government to reject his remission plea.
The two Left parties issued separate statements after the Supreme Court, in an order dated July 14, directed the Odisha government to take a decision on Singh’s application for premature release within one month. The apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on August 19.
Singh, 63, approached the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking remission after spending more than 24 years in prison. In his petition, he claimed to have repented for the crime, describing it as an act committed in a fit of “youthful rage.” He also stated that he believed in karmic philosophy and wished to use the opportunity for self-reform and service to society.
Opposing the plea, both CPI and CPI(M) argued that granting remission to a convict in a case involving a heinous communal crime would weaken public confidence in the justice system and undermine the secular principles of the Constitution.
In a statement, the CPI’s Odisha State Council alleged that any attempt to secure Singh’s premature release would violate the spirit of justice, erode the rule of law and pose a threat to communal harmony and law and order in the state.
The party urged the Supreme Court to exercise caution while considering the remission plea, citing the subsequent judicial reversal of remission granted to the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
The CPI also alleged that Singh had been linked to other incidents of communal violence, including the killing of cloth trader Sheikh Rehman in Mayurbhanj and missionary Father Arul Doss in 1999. It further claimed that Odisha had witnessed an increase in communal tensions, caste violence, mob lynching and crimes against women over the past two years, and warned that Singh’s release could further aggravate the situation.
CPI(M) state secretary Suresh Panigrahy said releasing such a convict would defeat the purpose of the criminal justice system and send a dangerous message to communal forces, organised criminals and those promoting politics of hate.
He further expressed concern that decisions in such cases under the BJP government could be influenced by communal considerations, adding that glorifying convicted criminals or extending them political protection amounted to disrespecting democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.
The triple murder case dates back to January 1999, when missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons were burnt alive in their vehicle in Kendujhar district.
A total of 50 persons, including Dara Singh, were arrested in connection with the case between 1999 and 2000. While 37 of them were acquitted within three years, a CBI court in Bhubaneswar sentenced Singh to death and awarded life imprisonment to 12 others in September 2003.
The Orissa High Court later acquitted 11 of the co-convicts while upholding the convictions of Singh and Mahendra Hembram. In May 2005, the High Court commuted Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment, a verdict that was upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2011.
In April 2025, Hembram was released from Keonjhar jail after completing 25 years in prison on grounds of good behaviour. Another accused, who was a juvenile at the time of the offence, was tried separately by a juvenile court and released in 2008.
