Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life sentence of Dara Singh in the killing of missionary Graham Staines and his sons, exactly 12 years after they were burnt by a Hindu rightwing mob in Orissa's Keonjhar district. A timeline of the case:
Jan 22, 1999: Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons Philip (10) and Timothy (6) burnt to death by a mob while they were sleeping in their station wagon in front of a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar.
Jan 29, 1999: The central government sets up judicial commission led by Supreme Court Justice D.P. Wadhwa to investigate the crime.
Feb 24, 1999: The Orissa government decides to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
June 21, 1999: The Wadhwa Commission submits 150-page report to the union home ministry holding Dara Singh guilty of the crime.
June 22, 1999: CBI submits chargesheet against 18 people, including Dara Singh.
Jan 31, 2000: Dara Singh arrested by CBI from a forest in Mayurbhanj district adjoining Keonjhar.
March 1, 2001: Trial in the case begins in a special CBI designated court at Bhubaneswar.
Sep 15, 2003: Court convicts Dara Singh and 12 others.
Sep 22, 2003: Court pronounces quantum of punishment and awards death sentence to Dara Singh and life imprisonment to 12 others.
May 19, 2005: Orissa High Court sets aside death sentence to Dara Singh and commutes it to life imprisonment in an 106-page judgment. It, however, retains life imprisonment awarded to Mahendra Hembram, another accused, while acquitting all others.
Jan 21, 2011: The Supreme Court upholds life imprisonment for Dara Singh and his accomplice Mahender Hambram.