The police mistake that got Sonam Raghuvanshi bail twice

Support Independent Journalism by becoming a member of EastMojo: https://eastmojo.com/eastmojo-membership The Meghalaya High Court on June 29 rejected the state government's plea to cancel the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya last year. Justice W. Diengdoh delivered the order dismissing the petition filed by the Meghalaya government against an April 27 order of a Shillong trial court that had granted Sonam conditional bail. The High Court's ruling means that order stays in force. The decision, however, does not amount to a finding on Sonam's guilt or innocence and the criminal trial against her will continue separately. The case centres on a constitutional requirement under Article 22, which states that anyone arrested must be informed in writing of the specific grounds of arrest. The trial court had found that the police failed to do this. The document meant to inform Sonam of the grounds of her arrest was a generic checklist with seventeen pre-printed boxes, most of which had no connection to her case. Several official documents also listed her charge as Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a section that does not exist. The actual murder charge against her is Section 103(1). The High Court held that this reflected what it called a "total non-application of judicious mind" by the arresting agency. The state government had argued that Sonam was fully aware of why she was arrested and that the error was a typing mistake without legal consequence. The High Court rejected this argument and upheld the trial court's order. Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam married in May 2025 and went missing during their honeymoon in Meghalaya's Sohra area. Raja's body was later found in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls. Police have filed a chargesheet running over 700 pages, and the trial continues in the lower court. INTRO – 00:00 - 00:28 BECOME A MEMBER OF EASTMOJO – 00:29 - 00:57 CHAPTER 1: THE VERDICT – 00:58 - 01:30 CHAPTER 2: THE POLICE LAPSE AT THE CENTRE OF IT ALL – 01:31 - 02:52 CHAPTER 3: WHY THE GOVERNMENT'S DEFENCE FAILED – 02:53 - 03:45 CHAPTER 4: THE CASE SO FAR – 03:46 - 05:02 SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM – 05:03 - 05:30 ========= Click here    / @eastmojoofficial   and ‘Join’ to become a part of the EastMojo family today! ========= Subscribe to never miss an update:    / @eastmojoofficial   ========= Visit our website: https://www.eastmojo.com Become a Premium Member: https://eastmojo.com/eastmojo-membership Find us on Google: https://news.google.com/publications/... Social Links: Facebook:   / eastmojo   X:   / eastmojo   Instagram:   / east.mojo   Reddit:   / eastmojo   ========= #EastMojo #NorthEastIndia