Meghalaya:
The Meghalaya High Court has upheld a Shillong court’s April 2026 order granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya in May 2025.
A single bench of Justice W Diengdoh dismissed the State government’s appeal challenging the bail order after reserving its verdict on June 10 following more than 10 days of arguments. The detailed judgment is awaited.
The Shillong court had granted bail after observing that the investigating agency failed to properly communicate the grounds of Sonam’s arrest. It noted that all arrest-related documents, including the arrest memo, justification checklist, inspection memo and case diary extract, incorrectly mentioned Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita instead of Section 103(1), which deals with the offence of murder.
The court held that the repeated error could not be treated as a mere clerical mistake, as none of the documents informed the accused that she was being arrested for the offence of murder. It further observed that the specific facts constituting the alleged offence had also not been communicated to her at the time of arrest.
Challenging the bail order, the Meghalaya government argued before the High Court that the error was purely typographical and had caused no prejudice to the accused. Advocate General Amit Kumar submitted that Sonam was fully aware of the murder charge, as reflected in the remand orders, chargesheet and subsequent court proceedings.
The State also relied on a Supreme Court judgment, arguing that procedural irregularities that do not cause actual prejudice are curable defects and should not automatically result in the grant of bail.
During the hearing, Justice Diengdoh questioned why the same error appeared repeatedly across multiple official documents. The court also observed that portions of the arrest records appeared to have been copied from standard templates, including an irrelevant reference describing the accused as a deserter from the armed forces.
The State further argued that Sonam posed a high flight risk. However, the High Court observed that the bail conditions were adequate and that legal action could be initiated if she violated any of them.
The case dates back to May 2025, when newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi went missing during their honeymoon in Meghalaya after checking out of a homestay in Nongriat. Their rented scooter was later found abandoned near Sohrarim, and Raja’s body was recovered from a deep gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2.
Sonam, who remained missing until June 8, was later traced to a roadside eatery near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Meghalaya Police subsequently named Sonam and her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha, as the prime accused in the case.
Police have since filed a chargesheet running over 700 pages, alleging that Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder was premeditated and planned by Sonam Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha. The trial is currently underway.
