Raja Raghuvanshi Honeymoon Murder Case: Meghalaya Moves SC To Revoke Sonam's Bail; Hearing Tomorrow

The Shillong murder last year - Raja Raghuvanshi case has reached to the Supreme Court after the Meghalaya government challenged the bail granted to the main accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is also the victim's wife.

The state government has sought the cancellation of her bail, arguing that it was granted because of a technical error during her arrest and not because the allegations against her were weak. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the matter on Friday after the state requested an urgent hearing.

Meghalaya Government Seeks Cancellation of Bail

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Meghalaya government and appealed to the vacation bench of the Supreme Court to hear the case on priority basis.
According to Mr. Mehta, Sonam had been granted bail due to the alleged fault of the police in informing her about the cause of her arrest. As per him, this whole issue came out to be because of a small typo in relation to a specific section in the context of arresting someone.

He said that this mistake of procedure would never be taken as a ground for granting bail in a case of murder.

Solicitor General is worried that if bail of Sonam continues then she might abscond.
In light of this plea, the Supreme Court decided to hear the matter on Friday.

High Court Had Earlier Refused to Cancel Bail

This came right after the High Court of Meghalaya rejected the plea filed by the state government contesting the bail granted by a subordinate court.

After the judgment from the High Court, Vipin Raghuvanshi, the elder brother of Raja Raghuvanshi, stated that they will continue with their legal battle and appeal at the Supreme Court.

Moreover, he was unhappy with the way the prosecution was conducting the investigation and made an announcement that they will hire a private lawyer to take the matter forward independently.

He questioned how the police were not able to clearly state the reasons for the arrest of Sonam.

Why Was Sonam Granted Bail?

Rejecting the appeal made by the State on the other hand, the Meghalaya High Court highlighted some procedure violations during the arrest of Sonam.

The Court noted that the way in which the police informed her about the cause of arrest indicated the absence of proper use of mind by the investigative authorities.
In this regard, the High Court felt that this was enough to cast doubt on whether all the requirements of the arrest had been duly fulfilled.

It was argued that the police had breached Article 22(1) of the Constitution as well as Section 47(1) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

Article 22(1) provides the right of being informed about the reason of arrest as well as consulting an advocate of one's own choice to every person arrested.

In the same vein, Section 47(1) of the BNSS says that the police should clearly inform the accused about the cause of arrest and the charge brought against him/her.

What Is the Raja Raghuvanshi Murder Case?

Sonam Raghuvanshi was arrested on June 9, 2025, from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly plotting to kill her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
She spent more than ten months in judicial custody at Shillong District Jail before getting released on bail.

Raja, who is a businessman in Indore and belongs to a family that operates a transport business, got married to Sonam on May 11, 2025. They went to Meghalaya for honeymoon on May 20.

After three days, Sonam went missing.

The body of Raja was found in a gorge by a waterfall in Sohra (Cherrapunji) in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on June 2.

An investigation followed, which ultimately resulted in the arrest of Sonam along with her lover, Raj Kushwaha, and three others on charges of conspiracy to murder Raja during the honeymoon period.