Shillong, June 29: The Meghalaya High Court upheld the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the main accused in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, on Monday. The court dismissed the state government’s appeal against the Shillong court’s order.
Justice W. Diengdoh’s single bench rejected the state’s petition challenging the April 2026 order from the additional district and sessions judge in Shillong, which had granted bail after identifying serious procedural flaws in the arrest.
The High Court reserved its decision after hearing detailed arguments from both parties on June 10. A comprehensive order is still pending.
While granting bail, the Shillong court noted that the investigating officers did not properly explain the basis for the arrest, which impacted the accused’s right to defense.
The court found that all documents related to the arrest, such as the arrest memo, checklist, rights notification, and case diary excerpts, incorrectly cited Section 403(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) instead of the correct Section 103(1), which pertains to murder.
The prosecution claimed this was merely a typographical error, but the court pointed out that this mistake was consistently found across all documents, and the accused was not formally informed of the ‘murder charges.’
The state government argued in the High Court that this was just a procedural error and did not cause any real harm to the accused. They contended that Sonam was aware of the murder charges as she had signed the arrest documents, appeared before a magistrate, and had legal representation.
However, the High Court did not accept the state government’s argument, allowing Sonam to remain on bail while upholding the Shillong court’s order.
This case is linked to the murder of businessman Raja Raghuvanshi from Indore, who, along with his wife Sonam, traveled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon in May 2025.
Both went missing during their trip to Sohra (Cherrapunji). Raja’s body was later recovered from a deep gorge near the Weisa Wadong Falls, showing multiple signs of injury.
The police investigation alleged that Sonam conspired with her alleged lover and others to murder Raja. Following this, Sonam was arrested, and other accused were apprehended from various states. After the investigation concluded, the police filed a charge sheet in court, and the case is currently under trial.
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