The Meghalaya Police has approached the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay on the bail granted to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. 

The move comes days after the Meghalaya High Court dismissed the State government's plea challenging the bail order.

Justice W Diengdoh had reserved the verdict on June 10 after hearing arguments for more than 10 days before rejecting the appeal. The detailed order is yet to be released.

The High Court upheld Sonam's bail after finding serious procedural lapses in the manner of her arrest.

It observed that police documents, including the arrest memo, inspection memo, justification checklist and extracts from the case diary, repeatedly cited Section 403(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita instead of Section 103(1), the provision relating to murder.

According to the court, the repeated reference to the wrong legal provision could not be dismissed as a simple clerical mistake.

It noted that the documents failed to clearly inform Sonam that she was being arrested for murder and did not adequately communicate the specific allegations against her at the time of arrest.

The High Court also criticised the investigating agency, saying the manner in which the grounds of arrest were conveyed reflected a complete lack of application of mind and undermined the legality of the arrest process.

Reacting to the order, Raja Raghuvanshi's elder brother, Vipin Raghuvanshi, said the family would independently challenge Sonam's bail before the Supreme Court and engage a private lawyer to pursue the case.

He also questioned how the police could have committed such a serious procedural lapse while arresting the prime accused and said the family would continue its legal battle to secure justice.