The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Odisha Government to take a decision on the premature release of Dara Singh, aka Rabindra Kumar Pal, who is serving life imprisonment in the murder case of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, by August 19.

Before a bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Vijay Bishnoi, counsel for the State of Odisha sought adjournment for a short period of time. The adjournment was sought on grounds that the Odisha State Sentence Review Board(Committee), which was to decide on the remission, has called for remaining records. Stating that the Court expects the Committee to take a decision soon, the bench posted the matter to be heard on August 19.

"A request has been made on behalf of the State that the matter may be adjourned for a short period as the Committee which was to take a decision has called for the records and those records are yet to be made available to them. In such circumstances, we deem it appropriate to adjourn this matter to 19.08.2026. In the meantime, we expect that the Committee shall take its decision."

Last year, the bench had asked the State of Odisha to decide on the plea for premature release of Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in 1999. Subsequently, the matter went to the Committee.

The convict Singh is seeking remission of his sentence and stated that he has served more than 24 years in prison. As per the State's remission policy, remission can be considered for convicts whose death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment after completion of 25 years of incarceration.

Dara Singh was sentenced to death by the trial court in 2003. In 2005, the Orissa High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2011. In his writ petition, Singh, represented by Advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, submitted that he committed the crime in a "fit of youthful rage" and was now repentant of his acts.