New Delhi, July 4: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to send Sonam Raghuvanshi back to jail but threw her honeymoon-murder trial under a judicial microscope, leaving Meghalaya’s challenge alive and the accused on notice.
Hearing the state’s urgent plea, the bench pointed out that Sonam is already out after the Meghalaya High Court upheld her bail and said it would not issue a stay at this stage. Instead, the court issued notice to Sonam and made it clear it will keep tabs on how the trial proceeds before taking any tougher call.
The Meghalaya government had raced to Delhi after losing twice in the state, first at the trial court on April 27 and then in the High Court on June 27. Both courts granted bail, ruling that police failed to properly inform Sonam of the grounds of arrest. The state insists she was told at multiple stages and argues the offence — the alleged murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon — is too grave to allow bail on technical grounds.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta led the state’s push, telling the apex court that procedural gaps should not trump the seriousness of the allegation. The bench, however, stopped short of reversing her release, saying it wants to see whether the trial is moving fairly and swiftly.
What happens next turns on two tracks. If the trial stalls, witnesses turn hostile, or evidence looks compromised, the Supreme Court could revisit bail and order Sonam back into custody when it hears the case again on July 9. If the prosecution keeps the case on schedule and the court is satisfied, her bail will likely hold while the trial runs its course. Either way, the bench’s decision to monitor the proceedings signals it views the case as a test for both arrest protocols and trial management in sensitive matters.
For now, Sonam stays out, but the top court has put a clock on the case. The July 9 hearing will decide whether that freedom continues or gets cut short.
