Supreme Court pulls up Odisha government over Dara Singh’s remission plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) pulled up the Odisha government over the delay in deciding the remission plea of Graham Staines murder convict Dara Singh and cautioned that it would summon State officials if the Sentence Review Board failed to take a decision within 10 days.

Staines and his sons, aged six and 10, were sleeping in their vehicle parked outside a church when a mob set it on fire and prevented them from escaping.

Posting Singh’s petition for hearing on September 17, a Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi said the State government could not continue to defer a decision.

“You cannot avoid taking a decision. You have to decide one way or the other. For two years, you have been delaying the decision... Otherwise, we will summon your Secretary or whoever is in charge right now,” the Bench said.