The Meghalaya High Court on Monday upheld an April 2026 order by a Shillong court granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime suspect in the chilling May 2025 "honeymoon murder" of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
Sonam Raghuvanshi is the woman from Indore who was arrested last year for allegedly conspiring to murder her husband during their honeymoon in East Khasi Hills.
The Court was hearing the Meghalaya government's challenge to the April 27 order of the District and Sessions Court, East Khasi Hills, which had granted bail to Sonam after finding that the police had failed to effectively communicate the grounds of her arrest.
Justice W Diengdoh pronounced the verdict after reserving judgment on June 10, following more than 10 days of arguments from both sides.Sonam Raghuvanshi is accused of conspiring to murder her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in East Khasi Hills in May 2025. Investigators allege that the murder was carried out with the help of her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha and three others.
Sonam was arrested in June 2025, has since been charge-sheeted and is currently facing trial.In its April 27 order, the trial court held that the investigating agency had committed procedural lapses while arresting Sonam Raghuvanshi. It had noted that the police had failed to properly communicate the charges to her.
“In none of the documents has the petitioner been intimated that she is arrested for the offence u/s 103(1) BNS,” the trial court order had observed.Rejecting the prosecution's contention that the omission was merely a clerical error, the court found that the defect appeared consistently across multiple documents.
The Meghalaya government had subsequently moved the High Court seeking cancellation of the bail, arguing that Sonam had been adequately informed of the grounds of her arrest and that the trial court had erred in granting relief.
Advocate R Kharkrang, Government Advocate S Laloo (appearing for the Advocate General), Special Public Prosecutor N Khera and Advocates AS Pandey, A Malik and I Syiemlieh appeared for the State of Meghalaya.
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