"Surrender Or...": Supreme Court Gives 2 Options To Honeymoon Murder Accused Sonam Raghuvanshi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave two options to honeymoon murder case accused Sonam Raghuvanshi - surrender or get bail cancelled.

Sonam Raghuvanshi is accused of killing her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya in May 2025.

A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale was hearing the State government's challenge to the Meghalaya High Court's order upholding her release.

The bench suggested that Sonam surrenders while the trial court records the evidence of key prosecution witnesses. The court offered to reconsider her bail on merits.

"There are two options. Either we will consider and pass an order on merit. Or we will pass an order for you to surrender in the interregnum till the witnesses are examined, then we will see it on merit. We don't want to surprise you. The second option may be better for you. Take instructions and come back," the court said.

The court indicated that if Sonam opts for the second option, it would direct the trial court to speed up the examination of public witnesses and reconsider her bail application.

"We want to be fair to both sides. If the second option is taken, we will issue direction to the trial court to expedite the examination of public witnesses and thereafter we can take your bail application. Otherwise we can hear you on merit... We will consider all that. Take a clear stand. We will see," the court clarified.

The Court remarked that the decision does not require much of an argument.

If you want to argue further, we will hear you. Hopefully, you'll be able to take a correct stand," stated the Court.

The bench asked Sonam to decide and inform the court by Thursday, 23 July.

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.

The Shillong court had granted bail to Sonam after observing that the investigating agency failed to properly communicate the grounds of her arrest. It noted that all arrest-related documents, including the arrest memo, justification checklist, inspection memo and case diary extract, incorrectly mentioned Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita instead of Section 103(1), which deals with the offence of murder.

The court held that the repeated error could not be treated as a mere clerical mistake.

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 challenge was directed against the grant of bail rather than its cancellation. He argued that the mention of Section 403 instead of Section 103 was 'merely a typographical error' and could not ammount of non-supply of grounds of arrest.

Mehta contended that Sonam surrendered only after the police arrested the co-accused and that she never disputed this fact in any of her earlier pleadings.

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.

The case dates back to May 2025, when newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi went missing during their honeymoon in Meghalaya after checking out of a homestay in Nongriat. Their rented scooter was later found abandoned near Sohrarim, and Raja's body was recovered from a deep gorge near Weisawdong Falls on June 2.

Sonam, who remained missing until June 8, was later traced to a roadside eatery near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Meghalaya Police subsequently named Sonam and her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha, as the prime accused in the case.