Guwahati, July 23: The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the Meghalaya honeymoon murder case, holding that the High Court had erred in granting relief over a technical defect in her arrest memo.
A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale allowed the Meghalaya government’s appeal and directed Sonam to surrender within three weeks. However, the court said she may apply for fresh bail if the trial is not completed within six months.
Sonam is accused of conspiring with three hired accomplices to murder her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya in June 2025. His body was later recovered from a gorge.
Her bail was granted after courts accepted the argument that the arrest memo incorrectly cited Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita instead of Section 103(1), amounting to improper communication of the grounds of arrest.
Rejecting that reasoning, the Supreme Court said there is a clear distinction between non-service of the grounds of arrest and errors in the particulars mentioned in the arrest documents. It noted that Sonam had received the arrest documents and acknowledged them before the magistrate.
The court also observed that earlier bail pleas on merit had already been rejected and that allowing her to remain on bail could affect the ongoing trial.
