Supreme Court removes remarks on conversion in Staines case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expunged two controversial statements in its judgement on the killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines.

In the wake of criticism over its remarks on conversion, the apex court bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan expunged and replaced its observations on Dara Singh's motive for killing Graham Staines and his two minor sons in Orissa in 1999.

The court removed the sentence - "In the case on hand, though Graham Staines and his two minor sons were burnt to death while they were sleeping inside a station wagon at Manoharpur, the intention was to teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely, converting poor".

The statement was replaced with - "However, more than 12 years have elapsed since the act was committed, we are of the opinion that the life sentence awarded by the High Court need not be enhanced in view of the factual position discussed in the earlier paras."

It also expunged the portion of a sentence that read - "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by way of 'use of force', provocation, conversion and incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other."

The sentence has now been replaced by - "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone's belief by any means".

The All India Christian Council (aicc) thanked the Supreme Court for revising its comments on the Jan. 21 verdict.

"We appreciate the Supreme Court for taking suo moto notice of the deep concerns over their comments on conversion in the Dara Singh case. We are thankful that several remarks which the Christian community found objectionable were expunged from the record today. This restores our faith in the judiciary," said the aicc president, Dr. Joseph D'souza.

"We were disturbed initially when the remarks by two Supreme Court justices gave the appearance of support for campaigns against freedom of faith. The Christian Council and community hold the justice system in high esteem as it is the appeal of last resort when state governments and administration often fail us. In fact our great respect is why the comments provoked deep concern," expressed the Council's secretary general, Dr. John Dayal.

The Supreme Court last week upheld the life sentence awarded to Dara Singh and Mahendra Hembram by the Orrisa High Court for killing Graham Staines and his two minor sons.