- July 3, 2026
A ‘Copy-Paste Error’ Helped Honeymoon Murder Accused Sonam Raghuvanshi Secure Bail? Explained
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Sonam Raghuvanshi is accused of murdering husband Raja on honeymoon in Meghalaya: Instead of murder, the arrest memo accuses her of ‘deserting armed forces’
(From left) Sonam Raghuvanshi, Raja and Raj Singh Kushwaha. (File)
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Meghalaya High Court order granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, accused of murdering her husband, Raja, during their honeymoon in 2025.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu expressed reservations over the high court order but refused to stay it, noting that Raghuvanshi had already been released from jail and was in Shillong pursuant to bail conditions imposed by the trial court.
HC HAD UPHELD TRIAL COURT’S ORDER
The Meghalaya High Court on Monday upheld a trial court order granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi. A single-judge bench of Justice W Diengdoh dismissed the criminal petition filed by the state government, seeking cancellation of the bail granted by the trial court on April 27.
NOT MURDER, SONAM ACCUSED OF DESERTING ARMED FORCES: THE BIZARRE ARREST MEMO
The police used a generic template for the arrest intimation document on June 9, 2025. Instead of mentioning the murder investigation, the memo bizarrely accused her of “deserting the armed forces”, committing crimes outside India, and failing to notify authorities of her residence as a released convict.
Justice Diengdoh held that the manner in which the grounds of arrest were prepared reflected a “total non-application of judicious mind”.
“It is evident that such preparation was made without any application of mind... and nowhere is found any specific allegation or information as to what are the actual charges against her,” the high court observed. “If this is the manner in which the intimation of the grounds of arrest is made, the same reflects a total non-application of judicious mind on the part of the arresting agency,” it said.
Raghuvanshi spent over ten months in judicial custody before being granted bail by a lower court. The High Court ruled that standard police negligence should not strip a citizen of their personal liberty, affirming the lower court’s bail decision.
On Thursday, the Meghalaya government moved the Supreme Court against the bail granted to the prime accused in the case.
THE SUPREME COURT HEARING
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, said the allegations against Raghuvanshi were serious in nature and she cannot be released on technical grounds.
Mehta sought a stay on the high court order, but the bench refused to grant the relief. The bench posted the matter for further hearing after the reopening of the apex court.
THE SONAM RAGHUVANSHI CASE
Sonam Raghuvanshi, a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested in June last year in connection with the murder of her businessman husband Raja Raghuvanshi. The couple had gone missing while vacationing in Meghalaya’s Sohra area on May 23 last year. Subsequently, Raja’s body was found in a deep gorge on June 2 in 2025.
Police have alleged that Sonam Raghuvanshi conspired with hired assailants to kill her husband for financial gain. Investigations revealed that one of the alleged conspirators, Raj Singh Kushwaha, was reportedly Sonam’s lover and worked at her brother’s firm in Madhya Pradesh.
On June 29, the Meghalaya High Court had upheld a trial court order granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi.
With agency inputs
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