New Delhi: The Meghalaya government on Thursday approached the Supreme Court to challenge a Meghalaya High Court ruling that upheld bail for Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the high-profile honeymoon murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi.
The plea was mentioned before a Bench led by Justice M.M. Sundresh, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the state and seeking expedited hearing. The Solicitor General told the court that bail was allowed solely because the reasons for arrest were not fully communicated to the accused when she was detained.
Expressing concern that Sonam might abscond, Solicitor General Mehta urged urgent listing of the state’s special leave petition. After hearing submissions, Justice Sundresh agreed to put the matter up for an early hearing, as reported by Telangana Today.
On June 29, a single-judge bench of the Meghalaya High Court had declined to interfere with a Shillong court’s decision that granted Sonam bail, effectively dismissing the state’s appeal. Justice W. Diengdoh had upheld the lower court’s April 2026 order of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), Shillong, which had released Sonam after finding significant procedural flaws in her arrest.
The Shillong court had ruled that investigating officers failed to properly inform Sonam of the grounds for her arrest, thereby prejudicing her ability to defend herself. The court noted that all arrest-related paperwork — including the arrest memo, the checklist justifying arrest, the inspection memo, intimation of rights and extracts from the case diary — repeatedly cited Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) instead of Section 103(1), the provision that deals with murder.
The prosecution’s claim that the error was a mere typographical mistake was rejected by the lower court, which observed that the same incorrect section number appeared across documents and concluded the accused had never been formally told she was being arrested for murder.
The Meghalaya government had contended before the High Court that the procedural lapse caused no real prejudice to the accused. Advocate General Amit Kumar, representing the state, argued that Sonam was fully aware of the murder charge because she had signed the arrest documents, appeared before the magistrate during remand hearings and had legal representation from the start. The state also cited a Supreme Court precedent to submit that such procedural irregularities can be treated as curable defects if there is no demonstrable prejudice.
Notwithstanding those submissions, the High Court declined to overturn the Shillong court’s order and allowed Sonam to remain on bail.
The case stems from the death of Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore-based businessman, who had travelled to Meghalaya with his wife Sonam for their honeymoon soon after their marriage in May 2025. The couple went missing during their visit to Sohra (Cherrapunji), prompting a large-scale search.
Raja’s body was later recovered from a deep gorge near Weisawdong Falls with multiple injuries, while Sonam was missing for several days before she was traced and arrested. Meghalaya Police investigations alleged that Sonam conspired with an alleged lover and hired assailants to kill Raja during the honeymoon. Several other suspects were also arrested from various states.
After the probe concluded, police filed a chargesheet in the competent court and trial proceedings are presently ongoing.
