The Sessions Judge court in Baripada on 29 October 2007 had awarded lifer to Singh on the charge of brutal murder of a trader Sk. Rahaman on 26 August, 1999 at about 4.30 p.m. at Padiabeda weekly market under Thakurmunda police station jurisdiction.
Representational Image: iStock
The Orissa High Court dismissed the plea of Dara Singh, who was earlier awarded lifer for the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in Odisha’s Keonjhar district in 1999, for modification of life sentence in a case of murder of a Muslim trader committed by the convict prior to the ghastly murder of Staines and his children.
The Sessions Judge court in Baripada on 29 October 2007 had awarded lifer to Singh on the charge of the brutal murder of a trader Sk. Rahaman on 26 August 1999 at about 4.30 p.m. at Padiabeda weekly market under Thakurmunda police station jurisdiction.
The convict’s counsel appealing the lower court verdict had prayed for reduction of the sentence on the ground that Singh had already undergone 21 years jail sentence in the Staines murder case
Advertisement
“The appellant has already undergone more than 21 years inside the jail custody and considering his long custody, the punishment may be modified to such period undergone. There is no merit in the said submission. Keeping in view the nature of the assault, the brutality associated therewith and the circumstances of the crime where no prior enmity existed, and the victim was unarmed and defenceless, there is no case made out for any leniency as far as the sentence is concerned”, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar and Justice B.P. Routray ordered a 9-page judgment on Tuesday.
As such, taking note of the prosecution case and considering the evidence adduced in its entirety, we do not find any extenuating circumstances in favor of the Appellant (Dara Singh). The sentence awarded to the appellant is hereby affirmed and the appeal is dismissed.
Advertisement
