SC critical of HC order but refuses to stay Sonam bail

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Friday said it was prima facie of the view that Meghalaya HC should not have granted bail on technical grounds to Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is accused of killing her husband during their honeymoon, but refrained from staying the order after it was informed that she was already out of jail.A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Sheel Nagu expressed reservation with the HC’s judgment but did not pass a stay order and issued notice on a plea by Meghalaya govt seeking cancellation of bail.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta and the state’s advocate general, Amit Kumar, urged SC to stay the order, saying three bail applications were rejected on merit. Sonam got bail on the fourth attempt on a typographical error, as cops had erroneously referred to BNS Section 403(1) instead of Section 103(1).When Sonam’s counsel told the bench she was already out on bail, the court said, “If she is released, then we cannot stay the order .”