SC suggests Sonam Raghuvanshi surrender in honeymoon murder case, defers hearing till Thursday

New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested that Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi honeymoon murder case, consider surrendering and face trial pending the examination of key prosecution witnesses, while indicating that the apex court could otherwise proceed to decide on the merits of the Meghalaya government’s plea challenging the grant of bail to her.

A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale asked counsel appearing for Sonam Raghuvanshi to obtain instructions on whether she was willing to surrender temporarily, observing that such a course could enable the trial court to record the evidence of public witnesses before the apex court reconsiders the issue of bail.

“We don’t want to catch you by surprise. Either we will consider and pass an order on merits, or we will pass an order making you surrender. You get instructions and come back to us,” the Justice Sundresh-led Bench orally observed.

The apex court indicated that, if Sonam Raghuvanshi opts to surrender, it may direct the trial court to expedite the examination of public witnesses and thereafter reconsider the question of bail.

“I think the second option is better for you. If you want to argue further, we will hear you and then decide one way or the other,” the Justice Sundresh-led Bench remarked, while posting the matter for further hearing on Thursday (July 23).

During the hearing, the Supreme Court also questioned why the plea regarding non-communication of the grounds of arrest had not been raised at the earliest opportunity and expressed doubts over whether the clerical error in the arrest documents was sufficient to justify the grant of bail by the courts below.

It further asked how the mention of Section 403 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), instead of Section 103 relating to murder, materially affected the case at the present stage.

Appearing for the Meghalaya government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that Sonam Raghuvanshi was fully aware of the reasons for her arrest and that the mention of Section 403 instead of Section 103 in the arrest memo was merely a typographical error.

SG Mehta submitted that Sonam had signed the arrest-related documents, her family had been informed about the arrest, and she had never questioned the communication of the grounds of arrest before the magistrate or in her earlier bail applications.

He argued that the issue was raised only at a much later stage and could not invalidate the arrest or justify the grant of bail.

Counsel appearing for Sonam Raghuvanshi, on the other hand, submitted that the prosecution case rests on circumstantial evidence and contended that the matter had received undue media attention.

Earlier, while issuing notice on the Meghalaya government’s plea, the apex court had declined to stay the operation of the bail order as Sonam had already been released, though it had expressed prima facie reservations about the High Court’s reasoning and directed the state authorities to place on record the original arrest memo and other documents supplied to the accused at the time of her arrest.

The Meghalaya government has challenged the High Court’s decision upholding the Shillong trial court’s order granting bail after finding serious procedural lapses in Sonam Raghuvanshi’s arrest.

The trial court had held that all arrest-related documents incorrectly referred to Section 403(1) of the BNS instead of Section 103(1), concluding that the accused had not been properly informed that she had been arrested for the offence of murder.

Rejecting the prosecution’s contention that the mistake was merely typographical, it held that the defect had prejudiced the accused’s defence.

The case relates to the murder of Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, who had travelled to Meghalaya with his wife, Sonam, for their honeymoon shortly after their marriage in May 2025.

According to the prosecution, Sonam conspired with her alleged lover and hired assailants to eliminate Raja during the honeymoon.

Following completion of the investigation, the police filed a chargesheet, and the trial is presently underway.

–IANS

pds/dpb