Raja Raghuvanshi Murder: Supreme Court To Hear Tomorrow State's Plea Against Sonam Raghuvanshi's Bail

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear tomorrow the plea filed by State of Meghalaya challenging the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the state's plea before a Justice MM Sundresh led bench. AAs per the court's website the state of Meghalaya has filed the SLP yesterday evening.

"She is likely to abscond, twice bail was rejected noting this that she will abscond.." Solicitor General told the bench also comprising Justice Sheel Nagu.

After the Meghalaya High Court upheld the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, her deceased husband Raja's family also announced that it would approach the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of her bail. The family also expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the prosecution conducted the case and said it would now engage a private lawyer to pursue the matter independently.

The Meghalaya High Court on June 29, 2026 dismissed the State government's appeal challenging the April 27 order of the Shillong Sessions Court granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi. While refusing to interfere with the bail order, the High Court held that the police had failed to effectively communicate the grounds of arrest to the accused, thereby violating the constitutional safeguards available to every arrested person.

The Court observed: "If this is the manner in which the intimation of the grounds of arrest is made, the same reflects a total non-application of judicious mind on the part of the arresting agency, which strikes at the root of the process of arrest of an accused person, leading this Court to come to the conclusion that the arrestee does have a strong case to contend that no such effective grounds have ever been intimated to her at the initial stage of her arrest."

The High Court held that the arrest procedure violated Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees an arrested person's right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to consult a legal practitioner of their choice, read with Section 47(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which mandates that the police communicate the full particulars of the offence and the grounds of arrest at the time of taking a person into custody. The Court concluded that the procedural lapses struck at the very legality of the arrest process, justifying the grant of bail.

Background of Raja Raghuvanshi murder case

Sonam Raghuvanshi was arrested on June 9, 2025, from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh after Meghalaya Police alleged that she had conspired with her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha, and three others to murder her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.

Raja and Sonam had married on May 11, 2025, in Indore and travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon on May 20. The couple went missing on May 23 after visiting Sohra in East Khasi Hills district.

Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge near a waterfall on June 2, while Sonam was traced several days later. Police subsequently arrested Sonam, Kushwaha and three other accused, alleging that the murder had been pre-planned.

Sonam remained in judicial custody for over ten months before securing bail from the Shillong Sessions Court, a decision that has now been upheld by the Meghalaya High Court. Raja's family is expected to challenge that order before the Supreme Court in the coming days.

Case Title: STATE OF MEGHALAYA vs. SMTI. SONAM RAGUVANSHI @ BITTI @ BITTU

Bench: Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu

Mentioning Date: July 2, 2026