New Delhi, 09 July (H.S.): The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on a petition filed by the Meghalaya Government seeking a stay on the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is accused of murdering her husband during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. A Bench headed by Justice Manoj Misra directed the Meghalaya Government to place on record the copy of the document containing the grounds of arrest that was allegedly provided to Sonam Raghuvanshi at the time of her arrest.

The Meghalaya Government has challenged before the Supreme Court the High Court's order upholding the trial court's decision granting bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi.

During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had observed that since the accused had already been released on bail, it would not stay the High Court's order at that stage. However, the Court issued notice to Sonam Raghuvanshi. The Bench had also expressed concern that the High Court had upheld the grant of bail solely on the ground that there was an error in the statutory provision mentioned in the arrest memo.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Meghalaya Government, argued that the High Court had committed a legal error by upholding the bail order. He submitted that Sonam Raghuvanshi and her husband had travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon, where, according to the prosecution, her husband was murdered as part of a premeditated conspiracy.

Mehta further submitted that the prosecution alleges Sonam Raghuvanshi killed her husband in a valley and disposed of his body by throwing it into a gorge. He stated that three other persons were allegedly involved in the crime. Following the incident, Sonam Raghuvanshi allegedly fled and was subsequently arrested in Uttar Pradesh.

The Solicitor General also argued that the High Court's decision was based on what he described as a mere typographical error in the arrest memo and contended that there remains a risk of the accused absconding if the bail order continues to operate.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar