The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay a Meghalaya High Court order granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the high-profile 2025 “honeymoon murder” case of her husband, Raja.
While a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu expressed reservations over the High Court’s ruling, they declined to revoke the bail, noting that Raghuvanshi had already been released from prison and was adhering to trial court bail conditions in Shillong. The decision follows a bizarre administrative oversight by the arresting agency that severely compromised the state’s case.
The Bizarre “Army Deserter” Arrest Memo
The core legal blunder occurred on June 9, 2025, when police processed Raghuvanshi’s arrest intimation document using a generic template. Due to an apparent “copy-paste error,” the official memo completely omitted the murder investigation. Instead, it formally accused her of:
- Deserting the armed forces.
- Committing crimes outside of India.
- Failing to notify authorities of her residence as a released convict.
High Court Slams Police Negligence
Reviewing the state’s petition to cancel her bail, Single-Judge Justice W Diengdoh of the Meghalaya High Court dismissed the state’s plea, slamming the arresting agency for a “total non-application of judicious mind.”
The High Court observed that the document was prepared with zero application of mind, failing to outline any actual specific allegations or charges regarding her husband’s murder. Asserting that standard police negligence should not strip a citizen of their personal liberty, the High Court upheld the trial court’s April 27 decision to grant bail. Raghuvanshi had already spent over ten months in judicial custody prior to her release.