SC to hear wife’s plea against Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under NSA on Thursday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned to January 8 the hearing of a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA).

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale deferred the matter. "Tomorrow? My brother (Justice Varale) wanted to go through this matter," Justice Kumar remarked, with senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Wangchuk, agreeing to the suggestion. Earlier, the plea had been heard by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria.

The plea contends that Wangchuk’s detention is “illegal and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights”. On November 24, the Supreme Court had deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh, requested time to respond to Angmo’s rejoinder.

Wangchuk was detained under the stringent NSA on September 26, two days after violent protests in Leh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured. Authorities accused him of inciting the unrest.

According to the amended plea, the detention order relies on “stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions, lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention and is thus devoid of any legal or factual justification.” The plea added, “Such arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process, rendering the detention order liable to be vitiated by this court.”

Angmo further stated it is “wholly preposterous that after more than three decades of being recognised at the state, national, and international levels for his contributions to grassroots education, innovation, and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India, Wangchuk would suddenly be targeted.” She also clarified that the violence in Leh on September 24 “cannot be attributed to the actions or statements of Wangchuk in any manner”.

Wangchuk, she added, condemned the violence through his social media handles, saying that such acts would undermine Ladakh’s “tapasya” and the peaceful pursuit of five years. “It was the saddest day of his life,” she said.

Under the NSA, the Centre and state governments can detain individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner “prejudicial to the defence of India”, with a maximum detention period of 12 months, though it can be revoked earlier.
PTI