Post by CCADP on Aug 16, 2005 7:43:12 GMT -5
New India Press :
Dara Singh challenges conviction in Staines murder case in SC
Tuesday August 16 2005 16:45 IST
PTI
NEW DELHI: Dara Singh, who was sentenced to life for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, on Tuesday challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court.
Dara, whose death penalty was commuted into life imprisonment by Orissa High Court, contended that his conviction was merely upheld on the basis of presumption of his presence at the site of incident as the mob was shouting slogans in his name.
"The conviction of Dara is solely on the basis of mere presumption, which is contrary to the principles of criminal Justice and devoid of law," the petition filed by his counsel Sibo Sankar Mishra said.
The High Court on May 19 had set aside Rabindra Pal Singh alias Dara Singh's death sentence for the murder of Staines and his two minor sons -- Philip (10) and Timothy (6) -- but had upheld life imprisonment on him for being part of an unlawful assembly that burnt them alive.
Along with Dara, another person Mahendra Hembram was convicted in the case. However, the High Court had acquitted 11 others who were awarded life terms by the trial court in the case that had sparked worldwide outrage in 1999.
The High Court had held that there was absolutely no evidence on record that due to individual act of Dara Singh alone the three persons or any of them died and had quashed the capital punishment to him.
The trial court had convicted 13 accused including Dara Singh under Section 302 (Murder) read with 149 (Every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of crime) of Indian Penal Code and had awarded life imprisonment to them.
The court had awarded death sentence to Dara by finding him guilty under a separate charge of 302.
While setting aside the death sentence on the separate charge of murder to Dara, the High Court had said that no particular fatal injury to any of the deceased had been attributed to him and therefore he could not be held individually liable for the offence.
Staines, who ran a leprosy home at Baripada, and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy were charred to death when a mob set ablaze the station wagon in which they were asleep on the night of January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district.
Pointing out loopholes in the evidence, the High Court had said it was "risky" and "dangerous" to convict so many accused on the basis of speculative evidence of a witness who did not disclose the matter to anyone except a CBI officer five months after the incident.
Dara Singh challenges conviction in Staines murder case in SC
Tuesday August 16 2005 16:45 IST
PTI
NEW DELHI: Dara Singh, who was sentenced to life for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, on Tuesday challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court.
Dara, whose death penalty was commuted into life imprisonment by Orissa High Court, contended that his conviction was merely upheld on the basis of presumption of his presence at the site of incident as the mob was shouting slogans in his name.
"The conviction of Dara is solely on the basis of mere presumption, which is contrary to the principles of criminal Justice and devoid of law," the petition filed by his counsel Sibo Sankar Mishra said.
The High Court on May 19 had set aside Rabindra Pal Singh alias Dara Singh's death sentence for the murder of Staines and his two minor sons -- Philip (10) and Timothy (6) -- but had upheld life imprisonment on him for being part of an unlawful assembly that burnt them alive.
Along with Dara, another person Mahendra Hembram was convicted in the case. However, the High Court had acquitted 11 others who were awarded life terms by the trial court in the case that had sparked worldwide outrage in 1999.
The High Court had held that there was absolutely no evidence on record that due to individual act of Dara Singh alone the three persons or any of them died and had quashed the capital punishment to him.
The trial court had convicted 13 accused including Dara Singh under Section 302 (Murder) read with 149 (Every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of crime) of Indian Penal Code and had awarded life imprisonment to them.
The court had awarded death sentence to Dara by finding him guilty under a separate charge of 302.
While setting aside the death sentence on the separate charge of murder to Dara, the High Court had said that no particular fatal injury to any of the deceased had been attributed to him and therefore he could not be held individually liable for the offence.
Staines, who ran a leprosy home at Baripada, and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy were charred to death when a mob set ablaze the station wagon in which they were asleep on the night of January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district.
Pointing out loopholes in the evidence, the High Court had said it was "risky" and "dangerous" to convict so many accused on the basis of speculative evidence of a witness who did not disclose the matter to anyone except a CBI officer five months after the incident.