New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Odisha government on a plea filed by Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh seeking premature release from jail. Pal is serving a life sentence for the killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons. Staines had worked with leprosy patients in Orissa for 30 years.
Pal was represented by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain in the apex court. Jain argued before a bench comprising justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti that his client has already spent more than 24 years in jail. Jain also cited the apex court’s verdict ordering the premature release of convicts, who were serving life sentences, in the Rajiv Gandhi assignation case. After hearing Jain’s submissions, the apex court issued notice to the Odisha government. The court scheduled the matter for further hearing after six weeks.
Pal’s petition said that in AG Perarivalan vs State of TN (Rajiv Gandhi assassination case), the apex court directed the release of a convict sentenced to life imprisonment and whose conviction as well as death sentence were confirmed by it, however, later death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
The plea said the petitioner is about 61 years of age and he has already undergone more than the qualified period, which is 14 years of sentence as stipulated in policy of the state government dated April 19, 2022. “The petitioner has served more than 24 years of actual imprisonment (without remission). It is noteworthy that the 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”, said the plea.
The plea contended that the concept of punishment is to try to bring about a change in the personality and character of the offender, to make him a useful member of society. “The theory of reformative justice can be summarised in the words of the eminent jurist and a former judge of this Hon'ble Court namely, Justice V.Krishna Iyer:-"Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future”, said the plea.
The plea said the petitioner, having spent over 24 years being incarcerated in the prison, has well understood and is repenting of the consequences of his action taken in the fit of his youthful rage and at present seeks the mercy of the apex court so that he can give back to the society through his service oriented actions.
“The basic principle of the reformative theory emphasises on the renewal of the convict and the beginning of a new life for him. It is based on the principle of reforming the offenders through individual treatment and not looking at criminals as just inhuman creatures”, said the plea.
The Stains family was burnt alive in Keonjhar. The family was sleeping in a car on their way home on a cold January night. A mob in Manoharpur village poured petrol over the car and set it on fire. In 2011, the apex court upheld the life sentence for Pal and rejected CBI’s plea for the death penalty.
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