Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail cancelled by Supreme Court in Meghalaya honeymoon murder

Sonam Raghuvanshi was arrested days after the May 23 murder of her new husband, Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in the hill state.

‘Courts have committed an error’

The Supreme Court said it was not as if Sonam Raghuvanshi was not handed the grounds of arrest, even though the reason for arrest may not have been adequate. “There is a difference between non-service and giving adequate reasons. While the first category might vitiate the arrest, in the second, one has to see the prejudice,” the top court said.

It added that Sonam had “expressed her satisfaction on the (receipt of) reasons behind her arrest”.

“Documents were indeed served. Therefore, we are not inclined to go into the issue of the validity of the arrest. Suffice it to state that both courts have committed an error by granting bail on the basis of the judgment rendered by this court.”

The court said that Sonam could apply for bail afresh if the trial was not completed in six months.

Previous bails

She was granted bail on April 27 by a Shillong court, which said the grounds of arrest had not been effectively communicated to her. On June 29, the Meghalaya High Court dismissed the state’s appeal challenging that order.

While challenging the bail, the Meghalaya Government argued that the grounds of arrest were communicated to her, but due to a typographical error, Section 403(1) was mentioned on the arrest memo instead of Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The state’s plea also stated that Sonam was granted bail in her fourth attempt, after the trial court rejected three previous requests, saying she was a flight risk and raising the possibility of her tampering with evidence, given her past conduct.