NEW DELHI, July 9: The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it might refer the case challenging the bail granted to murder accused Sonam Raghuvanshi to a larger bench to analyse the legal question whether a typographical error was sufficient to invalidate an arrest.
The apex court is scheduled to hear the case on July 14. It has already refused to stay the High Court of Meghalaya order granting bail to Sonam.
The decision stems from conflicting past rulings on whether law enforcement agencies must mandatorily provide the precise grounds of arrest to an accused in writing at the time of detention.
The High Court originally upheld a Shillong trial court’s decision granting bail to Sonam after the police arrest memo repeatedly cited Section 403 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (dishonest misappropriation of property) instead of Section 103(1) (punishment for murder).
A two-judge Supreme Court bench noted a direct contradiction in previous top court judgments. Past decisions like the Bansal case mandate communication of arrest grounds in writing, whereas the Vihaan case of 2026 rules that written communication is not an absolute requirement.
The matter is being heard by a partial working-day bench, comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Shree Chandrashekhar. Representing the State, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the error was purely a clerical oversight.
He noted that the serious nature of a premeditated murder charge should not be derailed by an administrative technicality. The bench has also directed Meghalaya Police to provide legible copies of the original arrest paperwork.
It has ordered both parties to file written submissions before taking a final call on referencing the matter to a larger bench. Sonam, a resident of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, is the prime suspect in the May 2025 “honeymoon murder” of her businessman husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
The couple went missing while vacationing in Sohra, Meghalaya. Raja’s body was later recovered from a deep gorge.
Earlier, another Supreme Court bench declined to stay Sonam’s bail as she had already been released from custody.
