Meghalaya moves SC against Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail in honeymoon murder case

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Government has approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Meghalaya High Court's order upholding the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in the State.

Mentioning the matter for urgent listing before a partial working-days Bench headed by Justice M.M. Sundresh, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that bail had been granted solely because the grounds of arrest had not been fully supplied to the accused, despite the omission arising from a typographical error in the provision cited. Arguing that there was a distinct possibility of the accused absconding, the Solicitor General sought an urgent hearing, following which Justice Sundresh agreed to list the matter on Thursday.

Earlier, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial) in Shillong had granted bail after holding that the police failed to effectively communicate the grounds of arrest, thereby prejudicing the accused's defence. The court observed that the arrest justification checklist and case diary extracts had consistently and erroneously referred to Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) instead of Section 103(1) of the BNS.

Advocate Sudev Thapa, who appeared on behalf of Sonam Raghuvanshi in the High Court, said, "My client has not yet received any formal notice regarding the State's appeal before the apex court."

Clarifying the status of the proceedings, he added, "The matter before the High Court is completely finished and disposed of. The Hon'ble High Court has already rejected the petition filed by the State, thereby upholding the trial court's order and confirming the bail."

He further said, "As of today, no petition is pending before the High Court, and the State's request for a stay has been rejected."

Referring to reports of the State's appeal before the Supreme Court, Thapa said, "While I have learned about the development through media reports, I cannot personally verify it because my client has not been formally served."

Thapa maintained, "The grounds on which Sonam Raghuvanshi was granted bail by both the trial court and the High Court are sound and reasonable, as they directly concern the violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution."

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