NEW DELHI: Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh, serving the life term in the murder of Australian Christian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, and his two minor children, has approached the Supreme Court seeking remission for having served for 24 years in jail.
He contended he regretted his crime, committed as he was "overwhelmed by distress at the barbaric deeds inflicted upon India by the Mughals and the British".
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti on Tuesday issued notice to Odisha government after hearing advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain on behalf of Singh.
The court sought a response from the state government and fixed the matter for further hearing after six weeks.
The prosecution said, Singh, a Bajrang Dal activist in Odisha, had burnt alive 58-year-old, Staines, an Australian Christian missionary working with victims of leprosy, and his two sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, aged 6, as they slept in their jeep in a forest clearing in Manouharpur-Baripada on the night between January 21 and 22, 1999.
In his petition, Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh, who originally hailed from Auraiya District in Uttar Pradesh, contended the respondents state authorities had failed to address several representations sent for his remission and premature release, jeopardising his right under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioner, lodged in Keonjhar district jail, submitted he happened to be more than 60 years of age and has already undergone more than the qualified period i.e. 14 years of sentence as stipulated in remission policy of April 19, 2022.
"Petitioner has never been released on parole and even when his mother passed away, he could not perform her last rites as he was not allowed to be released on parole," his plea said.
It also stated the petitioner acknowledged and deeply regretted the transgressions perpetrated more than two decades ago.
"In the fervor of youth, fueled by impassioned reactions to the brutal history of India, the petitioner's psyche momentarily lost restraint and it is imperative for the Court to scrutinize not merely the actions but the underlying intent, noting that there was no personal animosity harboured towards any victim," it said.
"The petitioner, overwhelmed by distress at the barbaric deeds inflicted upon India by the Mughals and the British, found himself in a tumultuous state of mind and in a zealous endeavor to safeguard and defend Mother India, regrettable offenses were committed thus, it is crucial to contextualize these actions within the fervent desire to protect the nation rather than stemming from personal malice and the petitioner seeks understanding and a fair evaluation of the circumstances surrounding those tumultuous times," his plea added.
It also pointed out in a catena of judgments involving similar circumstances and gravity of offences, the court has granted release of life convicts on the grounds of good conduct inside the jail, the period of incarceration undergone, etc.
He also relied upon the Rajiv Gandhi case convict A G Perarivalan who was directed to be released by the court in 2022.
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