'She's already released': SC says Sonam Raghuvanshi's bail will remain
What's the story
The Supreme Court has sought a response from Sonam Raghuvanshi, an Indore resident accused of murdering her husband during their honeymoon in East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. The court was hearing a plea filed by the state government seeking cancellation of her bail. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Meghalaya, described the case as "shocking," alleging it was a "pre-determined murder" with Raghuvanshi's involvement in the crime and subsequent disposal of the body into a gorge.
Bail reconsideration
Meghalaya honeymoon murder case
The bench, headed by Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu, was initially inclined to stay the Meghalaya High Court order granting bail to Raghuvanshi. However, they refrained from passing any such order after noting that she had already been released from jail. "If she is released already then we cannot order her arrest again. We thought she was not released," the bench remarked. The court then directed Raghuvanshi to file her response and scheduled a hearing for July 9.
Procedural lapses
Trial court granted bail citing procedural lapses
The trial court had granted bail to Raghuvanshi after observing procedural lapses in her arrest in April. It noted that the police had failed to communicate the grounds of her arrest properly. The court pointed out a typographical error in the memo of arrest, which mentioned Section 403 instead of Section 103 (murder), indicating she wasn't correctly informed about her charges.
Bail upheld
High court upheld bail, noted 'generic checklist' issued to her
The state then approached the high court. But the Meghalaya High Court also upheld Raghuvanshi's bail after examining the standard-format "intimation of grounds of arrest" issued to her. The court found it was a generic checklist with unrelated grounds and noted several entries included irrelevant options. Although it acknowledged the typographical error, it said the recurrence across records showed a lack of due diligence by investigators.
Legal debate
State challenges HC order in Supreme Court
The state has now approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the High Court's findings were unsustainable in law and fact. The plea stated Raghuvanshi was informed of her arrest grounds through five documents bearing her signature. It also mentioned a transit remand order confirming she knew why she was arrested. However, the high court ignored the arguments and upheld bail on a hyper-technical ground.