The legal troubles of Sonam Raghuvanshi are not over even after getting bail in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case. After the Meghalaya government approached the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of her bail, the top court on Tuesday suggested that Sonam surrender temporarily. At the same time, the court clarified that if she does not surrender, it will pass an order on the validity of the bail on merits.
On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Bipul M. Pancholi heard the case and made this observation.
During the hearing, the bench told Sonam’s lawyer to take instructions from the accused on whether she is willing to surrender and inform the court. According to the court, if Sonam surrenders temporarily, the lower court will get an opportunity to first complete the recording of key public witnesses. After that, the bail matter can be reconsidered.
The bench also remarked that if this proposal is not accepted, the court will hear and decide the bail matter on merits.
The bench also questioned the argument raised during the hearing that the accused was not properly informed of the grounds of arrest. The court asked why this issue was not raised at the initial stage of arrest. It also expressed doubt whether a wrong mention of the section number in the arrest memo can be a sufficient ground for granting bail.
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General appearing for the Meghalaya government, told the court that Sonam was fully aware of the grounds of arrest. He said that the mention of Section 403 instead of Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in the arrest memo was merely a typographical error. “Sonam had signed the arrest memo, her family was also informed about the arrest and this objection was not raised either in the lower court or at the time of the earlier bail application,” he said.
On the other hand, Sonam’s lawyer argued that the case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence. He also informed the court that there is excessive media coverage surrounding the incident.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued notice on the Meghalaya government’s petition but did not stay the bail order as Sonam had already been released. However, expressing prima facie doubt over the High Court’s reasoning, it directed that the arrest memo and all documents given to the accused be filed in court.
It may be noted that after the Meghalaya High Court upheld the lower court’s bail order, the Meghalaya government has approached the Supreme Court challenging that verdict.
The lower court had observed in its order that instead of Section 103(1) related to murder, Section 403(1) was wrongly mentioned in the arrest-related documents. According to the court, this meant the accused was not legally informed that she was being arrested on charges of murder. Although the government claimed this was only a printing error, the lower court did not accept that argument and held that the accused’s rights had been violated.
It is worth mentioning that in May 2025, Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who had gone to Meghalaya for his honeymoon after marriage, was allegedly murdered in a conspiracy involving his wife Sonam Raghuvanshi. According to the allegations, Sonam carried out the murder with the help of her alleged lover and hired assailants. The charge sheet in the case has already been filed and the trial is currently underway.
