The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated it may refer to a larger bench the question of whether a typographical error in an arrest memo is sufficient grounds to invalidate an arrest and grant bail to an accused in a murder case.
A bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Shree Chandrashekhar announced it will review a Meghalaya High Court decision that granted bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is accused of plotting the murder of her businessman husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
During the proceedings, the bench directed the state police to submit legible copies of the original documents provided to the accused at the time of her arrest. Justice Misra noted that the bail order would be overturned if the technical grounds raised by the defense are found to be unsustainable.
Legal Conflict Over Arrest Documents
The top court stated the necessity of resolving conflicting judicial rulings regarding whether physical, written grounds of arrest must be supplied immediately upon detention.
The legal dispute arose after the Meghalaya High Court upheld Raghuvanshi’s bail on June 29. The High Court had dismissed the state government’s petition to cancel her bail, ruling that the police showed a complete lack of judicial application by referencing a non-existent legal section—Section 403—instead of Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which covers the punishment for murder.
State Challenges Technical Bail Ruling
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state government, argued that the mistake on the arrest memo was purely a typographical error and should not overshadow the severity of the crime. He maintained that official records prove the factual grounds for detention were communicated to the accused when she was arrested.
Mehta described the incident as a premeditated murder. He stated that the couple had gone on their honeymoon to Meghalaya, where the accused allegedly conspired with hired accomplices to murder her husband on a hill and discard his body in a deep gorge for financial gain.
Procedural History of the Case
The victim and the accused, both residents of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, went missing on May 23 last year while traveling in the Sohra area of Meghalaya. Search teams recovered Raja Raghuvanshi’s body from a gorge on June 2, 2025, and police subsequently arrested Sonam Raghuvanshi later that month.
A trial court initially granted bail to the accused on April 27, a decision that was later upheld by the Meghalaya High Court. Following the High Court’s ruling, the state government appealed to the Supreme Court. On July 3, a separate Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices M. M. Sundresh and Sheel Nagu declined to issue an immediate stay on the High Court’s bail order.
