Bhubaneswar: Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred hearing on life convict Dara Singh’s remission plea to Sept 2 and warned that prolonged delay by the state would compel the court to take its own call.“You take a decision, otherwise we will take our call,” the bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi told the Odisha govt counsel, expressing displeasure over the state’s failure to decide on Singh’s plea for premature release despite his application remaining pending for years.The bench noted that the matter had been adjourned several times to enable the state to take a decision, yet no final determination had been communicated to the court.During the hearing, the state’s counsel submitted a communication from the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services, stating that a requisite report is awaited. The court observed that it had not been informed of any decision taken by the State Sentence Review Board (SSRB).The bench directed that the matter be listed on Sept 2 and made it clear that SSRB must take a decision and place it before the court by the next hearing.On Jan 22, 1999, an angry mob led by Singh (62) allegedly burnt Graham Staines (58) and his sons, Philip (10) and Timothy (6), alive inside their station wagon near a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district, triggering nationwide outrage. Singh, currently lodged in Keonjhar jail, is a native of Auraiya district in Uttar Pradesh.Singh, who has spent 26 years in prison, stated in his remission petition that he is over 60 years old, regrets his actions and has undergone reform during incarceration.The plea further stated that the offences were committed in his youth amid an impassioned desire to “safeguard and defend Mother India”. Singh also claimed that he had never been released on parole.At the previous hearing on July 14, the SC had granted Odisha govt time till Aug 19 to take a final decision on the plea.At its meeting on July 6, SSRB considered the cases of 56 life convicts. While 19 were released and 31 applications were rejected, the cases of six convicts, including Singh, were deferred.“The Board deferred consideration of the case and decided that a fresh opinion of the district authorities, Keonjhar, may be obtained, as the previous report had been received in March 2025 with certain conditions,” the minutes of the meeting stated.
