The Supreme Court has scheduled a July 21 hearing to address the Meghalaya government’s challenge against the bail granted to a woman accused of orchestrating her husband’s murder during their 2025 honeymoon.
A bench consisting of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice P B Varale fixed the date on Tuesday. During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state of Meghalaya, requested an immediate afternoon session, while the defense counsel successfully requested a postponement until next week.
Legal Clash Over Typographical Error
The upcoming hearing will examine a significant legal question that could impact the validity of criminal arrests. During a session on July 9, the apex court suggested it might refer the matter to a larger bench to determine whether a clerical mistake in an arrest memo is sufficient to invalidate an arrest and justify bail.
The court plans to review whether the Meghalaya High Court acted correctly in upholding the bail of the accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, based on a typographical error. On June 29, the High Court rejected the state’s petition to cancel the bail previously granted by a trial court on April 27.
The High Court had determined that the police failed to provide proper written grounds for the arrest, citing a complete lack of judicial application because the arrest memo referenced a non-existent Section 403 instead of Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which covers punishment for murder.
Mehta argued that the error was purely typographical and should not invalidate the arrest in a severe murder case. Earlier, on July 3, a separate bench of the Supreme Court declined to put an immediate stay on the High Court’s bail order.
Background Of The Honeymoon Homicide Case
The case involves the death of Raja Raghuvanshi, an Indore-based businessman. According to police records, he and his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, went missing on May 23, 2025, while vacationing in the Sohra area of Meghalaya. Search teams subsequently recovered the businessman’s body from a deep gorge on June 2, 2025.
Authorities arrested Sonam Raghuvanshi later that month, alleging she collaborated with contracted killers to murder her husband for financial profit.
