Raja Raghuvanshi murder: SC gives two options to accused Sonam — ‘Either we will pass an order on merits or...’
The Supreme Court has given two options to key accused Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is alleged to have plotted and executed the murder of her husband
The Supreme Court has given two options to key accused Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is alleged to have plotted and executed the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, on the Meghalaya government’s plea challenging the bail granted to her by a Meghalaya trial court and upheld by the Meghalaya High Court. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale told Sonam’s counsel that the Court could either decide the Meghalaya government’s appeal (against her bail) on merits after hearing her arguments or direct her to surrender for now (for witness examination) while the Court considers the bail issue.
“You (Sonam’s counsel) have two options. Either we will pass an order on merits or we will ask you to surrender, let the public witnesses question you - meanwhile we will decide the matter on merits (on bail),” the Court verbally observed. Sonam’s counsel sought time to obtain instructions and informed the Court that he would respond by Thursday. During the hearing, the Court also questioned Sonam’s conduct after the incident and sought an explanation on the allegation that Sonam did not raise the ground that the “grounds of arrest” were not provided to her earlier.
Opposing Sonam’s bail, the Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Meghalaya government, argued that Sonam had voluntarily surrendered before the police and could not
subsequently challenge her arrest on the grounds that the grounds of arrest were not furnished. He submitted that any omission in the arrest memo was merely a clerical error.
The BriefWire