The Sonapahar sillimanite-corundum deposit of Meghalaya, Northeast India occurs within high-grade metapelites and exhibits an unusual association of sillimanite-quartz, corundum-quartz, sapphirine-phlogopite-corundum-sillimanite rock. Pockets of sillimanite and corundum occur within the host quartz sillimanite schist with contrasting chemical signature, where the SiO$_{2}$ /Al$_{2}$ O$_{3}$ ratio is 2.5–3 for the host quartz sillimanite schist and 0.12–0.7 in sillimanite rocks. Earlier it was explained that the sillimanite-corundum rock was produced from metamorphosed paleosol, but the present study suggests that metasomatism had a major role to modify the host quartz-sillimanite schist into sillimanite-corundum rocks during post-peak metamorphism. Field disposition and structural control of the area show that pockets of sillimanite-corundum rock are restricted near the shear zones. Shear zones were the pathways for movement of hydrothermal fluids, conversion of host bulk chemistry by selective leaching and, finally, enrichment of sillimanite-quartz or corundum-quartz pockets within the quartz sillimanite schist.