The Supreme Court gave Sonam three weeks to surrender before the authorities. The court also said that if the trial is not completed within six months, she can apply for bail again.
Updated: July 23, 2026, 1:48 PM IST
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The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the main accused in the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. A Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale ruled that the High Court and the trial court had made a mistake by granting her bail based on alleged flaws in how the grounds for her arrest were communicated.
However, the Supreme Court gave Sonam three weeks to surrender before the authorities. The court also said that if the trial is not completed within six months, she can apply for bail again. The order came while allowing an appeal filed by the Meghalaya government against the earlier bail decision.
The court observed that informing an accused about the reasons for their arrest is a legal requirement under Article 22(1) of the Constitution. However, it said this was not a case where the grounds of arrest were completely withheld, and therefore the earlier courts should not have granted bail on that basis.
“The respondent expressed her satisfaction on the reasons behind her arrest. Documents were indeed served on her. 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 Bench observed.
Sonam Raghuvanshi, a 25-year-old woman from Indore, had travelled to Meghalaya with her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, for their honeymoon in May last year. During the trip, the couple went missing, and about a week later, Raja’s body was found in a deep gorge.
According to investigators, Sonam allegedly planned the murder with the help of her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha, and a group of hired men. Police claimed the crime was carried out for financial benefits. She was arrested in June 2025.
Earlier, a trial court in Shillong had granted Sonam bail, and the Meghalaya High Court later upheld that decision. However, on Thursday, the Supreme Court cancelled her bail, holding that she was not entitled to the relief.
The lower courts had granted bail after finding flaws in the arrest procedure. They observed that police had not properly provided the written grounds for her arrest, which is a legal requirement. The High Court had also pointed out that the arrest documents mentioned the wrong section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to the murder charge, calling it a serious lapse.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Meghalaya government, argued that the incorrect section mentioned in the arrest memo was only a clerical or typographical mistake and should not make the arrest invalid. He also told the court that Sonam could abscond if she remained on bail, urging that the bail order be set aside.
