Supreme Court Refuses To Revoke Sonam Raghuvanshi’s Bail For Now, Agrees To Hear Meghalaya Government’s Plea

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Meghalaya honeymoon murder accused Sonam Raghuvanshi to remain on bail for the time being while agreeing to examine the Meghalaya government's challenge against the High Court order that granted her relief. The court issued notice on the state's plea and scheduled a detailed hearing later, but declined to send Sonam back to custody as she has already been released.

A bench of the apex court observed that the allegations against Sonam were serious, yet said it was not appropriate to interfere with the existing bail order at this stage since she had already been released and the matter would be examined on its merits during the next hearing.

The Meghalaya government argued that the High Court should not have upheld Sonam's bail, maintaining that the case involved grave allegations and that there was no major procedural lapse during her arrest. The state urged the Supreme Court to cancel the bail and allow investigators to continue the case without any legal complications.

Representing Sonam, her counsel opposed the plea and argued that she had already spent a considerable period in custody. The defence also maintained that she posed no risk to the investigation, pointing out that strict bail conditions were already in force and that she could neither influence witnesses nor tamper with evidence.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court remarked that while the accusations were serious, the legal principle remains that bail is generally the rule and imprisonment before conviction should remain an exception. The bench said it would carefully examine all legal issues raised by both sides before taking a final decision.

The case relates to the alleged murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, who had travelled to Meghalaya with his wife Sonam for their honeymoon. The couple went missing during the trip, and Raja's body was later recovered from a deep gorge in the Sohra region. Investigators have accused Sonam of conspiring with hired assailants to kill her husband for financial gain, an allegation she has denied.

The Meghalaya High Court had earlier refused to cancel the bail granted by the trial court, observing that there were deficiencies in the manner in which the grounds of arrest had been communicated. Challenging that decision, the Meghalaya government approached the Supreme Court, which will now hear the matter in detail before deciding whether Sonam's bail should continue or be cancelled.