The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it was contemplating cancelling the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.
A Bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale was hearing the State government's challenge to the Meghalaya High Court's order upholding her release.The Court suggested that Sonam should surrender in the interim while the trial court records the evidence of key prosecution witnesses. It indicated that it could then reconsider her bail on merits.
"There are two options. Either we will consider and pass order on merit. Or we will pass an order for you to surrender in the interregnum till the witnesses are examined, then we will see it on merit. We don't want to surprise you. The second option may be better for you. Take instructions and come back," said the Court.The remarks came after the Court asked Sonam's counsel to obtain instructions on whether she was willing to surrender pending further consideration of her bail
When Sonam's counsel pointed out that the trial court had imposed stringent conditions requiring her to remain in Shillong and attend proceedings every day, the Court said it would take those factors into account."We want to be fair to both sides. If the second option is taken, we will issue direction to the trial court to expedite the examination of public witnesses and thereafter we can take your bail application. Otherwise we can hear you on merit... We will consider all that. Take a clear stand. We will see," said the Court.
Sonam Raghuvanshi is accused of conspiring to murder her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in East Khasi Hills in May 2025. She was arrested in June 2025 and later charge-sheeted for offences including murder. The trial is currently underway.In April 2026, the District and Sessions Court at East Khasi Hills granted Sonam bail after holding that the investigating agency had failed to effectively communicate the grounds of her arrest, as required by law.
The Meghalaya government then challenged that order before the High Court. However, on June 29, 2026, the Meghalaya High Court upheld the grant of bail, observing that the "grounds of arrest" had been prepared mechanically and contained several irrelevant entries.The State then approached the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of Sonam's bail.
Appearing for the State of Meghalaya, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Sonam had conspired to murder her husband by luring him to an isolated spot in Meghalaya during their honeymoon, where three men allegedly hired through her paramour killed him before disposing of his body in a gorge.
Mehta contended that Sonam absconded after the incident and surfaced only after the co-accused had been arrested. He added that Raja's body was recovered only after ten days with the help of drones and could be identified only through tattoos and other body marks because his face was unrecognisable.
He further argued that although the arrest memo mistakenly mentioned Section 403 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita instead of Section 103 (murder), the error was merely typographical and did not invalidate the arrest, particularly since Sonam had never disputed either the grounds of arrest or the fact that she had surrendered in any of her earlier bail applications.
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