Honeymoon Murder Case: Sonam Raghuvanshi’s bail canceled by Supreme Court, order to surrender in 3 weeks

Sonam Raghuvanshi, accused in the famous case of murder of her husband during honeymoon in Meghalaya, has received a big blow from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has canceled his bail granted by the High Court with immediate effect. The bench of Justice MM Sundaresh and Justice PB Varale, while hearing the petition of Meghalaya government, has given strict instructions to Sonam to surrender in the court within three weeks. The court clearly said that keeping the accused out of jail at this juncture may hinder the fair hearing of the case and the ongoing investigation.

Court’s comment on disappearance and arrest process after murder

During the hearing, the apex court found that accused Sonam was missing since the incident and she had no concrete reason for her absence. The bench made it clear that at the time of arrest by the police, adequate information was given to the accused about the reasons for his detention, hence, bail cannot be granted on merit citing procedural flaw. However, the court did give relief that if the trial of the case does not proceed or is not completed within the next 6 months, the accused will be free to apply for bail again.

Important discussion of Supreme Court on relationships and nuclear family during the hearing

During the hearing of the case, there was a serious discussion on modern day family relationships between the court and the Solicitor General. Commenting, the Supreme Court said that today’s young generation is ahead in terms of information, but is proving to be very weak in terms of bearing mental pressure and stress. The court acknowledged that in the earlier Joint Family System, people learned to make sacrifices and adjust to circumstances, whereas due to the increasing trend of nuclear families and dependence on gadgets, people are losing patience, which is affecting personal relationships.