The Supreme Court on Monday fixed July 21 for hearing the Meghalaya government’s plea challenging the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is accused of murdering her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya last year.
A bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale scheduled the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Meghalaya government, sought an early hearing. Counsel for the accused requested that the case be listed next week, following which the bench fixed July 21 as the date of hearing.
Sonam Raghuvanshi, a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested in June 2025 after police alleged that she conspired with hired assailants to murder her husband, businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, for financial gain.
The couple had gone missing while on their honeymoon in Sohra on May 23, 2025. Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was recovered from a gorge on June 2, leading to a high-profile murder investigation.
During an earlier hearing on July 9, the Supreme Court indicated that it may refer to a larger bench the legal issue of whether a typographical error in an arrest memo, specifically the mention of an incorrect statutory provision, is sufficient to invalidate an arrest and justify the grant of bail.
The apex court also said it would examine whether the Meghalaya High Court was justified in upholding Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail on that basis.
On July 3, the Supreme Court had declined to stay the High Court’s order granting bail to the accused.
The Meghalaya High Court had upheld the trial court’s April 27 order granting bail, observing that the police had failed to provide proper written grounds of arrest. It noted that the arrest memo reflected a “total non-application of judicious mind” because it cited Section 403 instead of Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with punishment for murder.
The Meghalaya government has maintained that the incorrect provision was a clerical error and argued that such a mistake should not invalidate the arrest or entitle the accused to bail in a murder case.
