Raja Raghuvanshi murder: Meghalaya police move Supreme Court against Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail

Meghalaya Police on Thursday, July 2, 2026, approached the Supreme Court seeking immediate stay of bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused for allegedly killing her husband Raja Raghuvanshi on their honeymoon in Meghalaya.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, raised the issue before the bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu adjourned and sought an urgent hearing.

The law officer pointed out that the Meghalaya High Court had on June 29 upheld the Shillong court’s order granting bail to Ms. Raghuvanshi on the grounds that the police had not effectively communicated the reasons for her arrest. He argued that there was a reasonable risk that the defendant would flee if the bail order was allowed to take effect.

“The Supreme Court ordered him to be released on bail stating that the reasons for his arrest were not presented to him… However, this was just a clerical error. We want the bail decision to be postponed. If he is released, he will abscond,” said Mr. Mehta.

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Accepting the request, the Board agreed to bring the issue to a hearing on Friday, July 3, 2026.

The Supreme Court had dismissed the State’s appeal against the April 2026 order of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) Shillong granting bail to Ms. Raghuvanshi on procedural grounds. Judge W. Diengdoh stated that the police did not effectively communicate the reasons for his arrest, thus violating the constitutional protections available to an arrested person.

Rejecting the prosecution’s claim that the discrepancy was merely a harmless writing or clerical error, the Supreme Court ruled that the document purporting to state the grounds for arrest was prepared “without any reasoning” and contained allegations that had no connection with the case.

The Supreme Court said, “Such notification of the reasons for the arrest reflects that the arresting authority did not fully apply its common sense attitude.” The court stated that such obvious errors undermined the fundamentals of the arrest process and justified the granting of bail.

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“Should the fundamental basis for establishing a case against the accused/respondent be found wanting, all subsequent actions or other attempts to rectify the process will have to fail,” Justice Diengdoh said.

However, the Judge explained that the findings were limited to the legality of the arrest procedure and did not constitute any slander to the investigation or trial.

Before the Supreme Court, the State, represented by Solicitor General Amit Kumar, argued that the inadvertent error did not cause actual prejudice to the accused, who was fully aware of the nature and seriousness of the allegations against him. He argued that the defect was purely procedural and could not, on its own, constitute a valid reason for granting bail.

The case pertains to the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who had gone to Meghalaya for honeymoon with his wife Sonam in May 2025. The couple went missing while on holiday in the Sohra region of the province on May 23. Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was recovered from a deep valley on 2 June.

According to the prosecution, Sonam conspired with hired assailants to kill her husband as part of an alleged conspiracy with her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha for financial gain.