New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, Jul 14: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Odisha government to release Dara Singh, the prime convict in the 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, on or before August 15, 2026, Independence Day, informed his counsel A.P. Singh.

The directive follows the State Sentence Review Board’s clearance of Singh’s premature release plea. A two-judge bench led by Justice Manoj Mishra heard the matter, with Singh represented by lawyer A.P. Singh. The court was informed that the Review Board had recently met to consider the release of 56 prisoners, including Singh.

The apex court mandated Singh’s release by Independence Day, with the matter to be taken up again on August 19 if the order is not implemented. The Odisha government told the court that the Review Board was verifying details related to Singh’s place of birth before finalising its recommendation.

Singh’s counsel confirmed the development, saying the apex court’s directive paves the way for his client’s release after more than 25 years in prison. Singh has been lodged in jail since his conviction in the triple murder case.

Also Read: Odisha Crime Branch Takes Over Probe Into School Textbook Errors

Dara Singh was sentenced to death by a CBI court in 2003 for burning alive Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, in Manoharpur, Odisha, in January 1999. The Orissa High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.

The incident shocked the nation and drew international condemnation, becoming one of the most infamous episodes of communal violence in India’s recent history. The apex court had earlier upheld Singh’s conviction while commuting his death sentence, and last year asked the Odisha government to decide on his remission plea.