New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- In a significant development in the 1999 Graham Staines murder case, the Supreme Court has directed the Odisha State Sentence Review Board to decide on the plea of murder convict Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh seeking premature release from his life sentence.

A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi took exception to the delay in deciding Pal's plea, who has undergone more than 26 years of his life sentence.

"List this matter on September 2, 2026. Sentence Review Board shall take a decision and apprise us. Take a decision; otherwise, we will. We cannot tolerate this; no decision," the Court said.

The Court was informed that when the matter was last adjourned, the Sentence Review Board was in the proc...