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Meghalaya HC rejects state’s plea against Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail (Img: Agencies)
Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court on Monday upheld the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. The court dismissed the state government's appeal challenging an earlier order of a Shillong court.
A single bench of Justice W. Diengdoh ruled in favour of Sonam, affirming the April 2026 order passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), Shillong. The lower court had granted bail after finding procedural lapses in the manner of her arrest. The High Court had reserved its verdict on June 10 following lengthy arguments from both sides. A detailed judgment is yet to be released.
The trial court observed that police documents repeatedly mentioned Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to abetment of an offence, instead of Section 103(1), which deals with punishment for murder.
According to the court, this error appeared in several arrest-related documents, including the arrest memo, inspection memo, case diary extracts and arrest checklist. The court held that such repeated mistakes could not be treated as mere clerical errors and concluded that the accused was not properly informed of the grounds of her arrest.
Representing the state, Advocate General Amit Kumar argued that Sonam was fully aware of the murder allegations and that the documentation error did not prejudice her defence. The prosecution maintained that the defect was curable and should not have resulted in the grant of bail.
During the hearings, the High Court questioned why the same mistake had appeared across multiple official documents.
The case relates to the alleged murder of Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who travelled to Meghalaya with his wife Sonam for their honeymoon in May 2025. Raja's body was later recovered from a gorge near Weisawdong Falls in Sohra, while Sonam was traced days later in Uttar Pradesh.
Meghalaya Police have already filed a chargesheet running over 700 pages, alleging that the murder was pre-planned and carried out as part of a conspiracy involving Sonam and her alleged associate Raj Kushwaha. The criminal trial will continue despite the High Court's decision on bail.
