sc-to-hear-plea-against-sonam-s-bail-over-arrest-memo-typo

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will examine whether a typographical error in an arrest memo is sufficient to invalidate an arrest and justify bail for Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.

 

A partial working day bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Shree Chandrashekhar indicated that the legal issue may be referred to a larger bench as it involves conflicting judicial precedents on the validity of arrests and the requirement of furnishing written grounds of arrest.

 

The observations came while hearing the Meghalaya government's appeal against the High Court order that upheld bail granted to Raghuvanshi.

 

Appearing for the state, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the mistake in the arrest memo was purely clerical and should not outweigh the gravity of the offence. He submitted that the accused had been supplied with the grounds of arrest and that the error only involved citing an incorrect statutory provision.

 

The Meghalaya High Court had upheld the trial court's decision to grant bail after observing that the arrest memo cited Section 403 instead of Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with punishment for murder. The High Court had described the error as reflecting a "total non-application of judicious mind" by the investigating agency.

Also read: Siya learnt from Sonam Raghuvanshi's mistakes: Police

During the hearing, Justice Misra said the apex court would examine whether such defects in an arrest memo are sufficient to render an arrest illegal and whether the issue requires consideration by a larger bench.

 

"We will consider this matter at length. We will decide whether this requires to be referred to a larger bench," the judge observed.

 

The bench directed the Meghalaya Police to produce legible copies of the original documents supplied to the accused at the time of arrest. Justice Misra also orally observed that if the legal ground relied upon for granting bail is found unsustainable, the bail order could be set aside.

 

Sonam Raghuvanshi, a resident of Indore, was arrested in June last year in connection with the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi. The couple had gone missing while vacationing in Sohra, Meghalaya, in May 2025. Raja's body was later recovered from a gorge, and investigators have alleged that Sonam conspired with hired assailants to kill him for financial gain.