Shillong, Apr 29: A day after Sonam Raghuvanshi was granted bail by the Sessions Court, the other accused persons in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case moved bail on Wednesday.
The bail petition was moved by counsel Phuyosa Yobin on the grounds of “parity”.
“We are claiming parity with the other bail application, which was allowed,” Yobin told reporters after the hearing.
The counsel for the four others, who are still in judicial custody, said that it took the same plea that the arrest was not proper as mandated for the arrest procedure.
These four are Raj Kushwaha, Akash Rajput, Anand Kurmi and Vishal Singh Chauhan. While Kushwaha is reportedly Sonam’s boyfriend, the other three were allegedly hired to murder Raja. He and Sonam were ostensibly on their honeymoon in Meghalaya but police say that Sonam plotted with Kushwaha to have her husband murdered here.
All five were arrested in June 2025 in connection with the murder of Raja at Sohra and were booked under the same sections.
Sonam secured bail yesterday after the Sessions Court held that police failed to properly communicate the grounds of arrest as required under Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees that an arrested person must be informed why they are being detained.
The court found serious discrepancies in the “intimation of grounds of arrest” papers, observing that the format was a checklist in which relevant boxes were not ticked. It also noted that several arrest-related documents mentioned Section 403(1) BNS, while the actual case had been registered under Section 103(1) BNS along with other provisions.
The judge held that Sonam had not been clearly informed she was being arrested under Section 103(1) BNS and that the specific facts constituting the offence were not conveyed in clear terms. Section 103(1) relates to murder and punishment for murder, while section 403(1) relates to dishonest misappropriation of property.
Sonam secured bail under four conditions: that she will not abscond or tamper with the evidence or witnesses. She will attend court on every date fixed, she will not leave the jurisdiction of this court, except with due permission and she shall execute a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two surety of like amount to the satisfaction of this court.
