Orissa HC rejects Dara Singh’s plea for treating 21 years in jail as life term

Dara Singh, serving life sentence in three separate cases of murder including that of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in Keonjhar district in January 1999, is lodged in a jail in Keonjhar district.

Published on: Jan 11, 2022, 02:33:31 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: orissa high court has rejected the plea of Dara Singh, serving life sentence in three separate cases of murder including that of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in Keonjhar district in January 1999, to treat his 21 years in jail as life sentence.

Dara Singh, now 59 years old, was first arrested in January 2000. (File Photo/AP)

The HC bench comprising chief justice S Muralidhara and justice BP Routray rejected Singh’s criminal appeal seeking his release from jail in the murder case of a Muslim trader in 1999 for which he was sentenced to life by a trial court in 2007. Singh pleaded that as he has already undergone more than 21 years inside the jail and considering his long custody, the punishment may be treated as life term.

In 2007, a trial court in Mayurbhanj sentenced Singh to life for killing and then burning Muslim trader SK Rehman of Padiabeda village in Thakurmunda block of the district. The same year, he and three others were sentenced to life for murdering 35-year-old Catholic priest Father Arul Doss in Sep 1999, at Jamubani village of Mayurbhanj district.

In 2003, a trial court in Khurda district awarded Singh death sentence and life to 12 others for burning alive Staines and his two sons in Manoharpur village of Keonjhar district. Staines was sleeping with his sons, aged 8 and 10, in a stain wagon in the forest when a mob led by Singh poured petrol over it and set fire to it. In 2005, the Orissa high court commuted Singh’s sentence to life. The High Court acquitted 11 others. In 2011, the SC upheld Singh’s life sentence.

First arrested in January 2000, Singh, now 59 years old, is lodged in a jail in Keonjhar district.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More