THE SUPREME COURT ON WEDNESDAY adjourned to October 29 the hearing of the habeas corpus plea filed by Gitanjali Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (‘NSA’) and seeking his immediate release.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria allowed Gitanjali Angmo to amend her petition to include a challenge to the grounds of detention based on the detention order and the materials recently furnished by the Central government. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for her, submitted that the amendment was necessary as the authorities had only recently provided the grounds of detention.
Sibal also complained that Wangchuk had not been permitted to share his notes regarding the detention with his wife’s legal counsel. “He has made certain notes which he wanted to give to his lawyer. He is entitled to the assistance of counsel, and the notes should be passed on,” Sibal told the Court.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said the government had no objection to the notes being shared but clarified that any delay in providing the detention grounds to the family could not be used to invalidate the detention order. The Court then adjourned the matter, permitting Angmo to file an amended petition.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26 under the NSA and subsequently shifted to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan, over a thousand kilometres from Ladakh, for allegedly inciting violence during protests demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The clashes in Leh reportedly left four persons dead and over eighty injured.
In her plea, Angmo has claimed that her husband’s detention is politically motivated and intended to silence a respected environmentalist and social reformer who has consistently advocated non-violent, Gandhian methods to protect Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem. The petition argues that his preventive detention is a violation of his fundamental rights to free speech and assembly under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
The plea also alleges that a “systematic campaign” has been launched to malign Wangchuk by linking him falsely to Pakistan and China, and that the government’s move was aimed at discrediting his peaceful movement to safeguard Ladakh’s ecology and glaciers.
In affidavits filed before the apex court, both the District Magistrate of Leh and the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail defended Wangchuk’s detention, asserting that it was made after “due consideration of credible inputs” showing that he was “indulging in activities prejudicial to national security, public order, and essential services.”
The District Magistrate maintained that the order was issued after arriving at a “subjective satisfaction” based on the prevailing circumstances in Ladakh. The affidavit added that Wangchuk’s family had been duly informed of his arrest and transfer and that the grounds of detention were communicated on September 29, within the five-day period required under Section 8 of the NSA.
The Jail Superintendent further stated that Wangchuk was being held in a standard 20x20 ft barrack, was the sole occupant, and was medically examined twice — once at the time of detention and again upon his arrival at Jodhpur Jail — and found to be fit. He also confirmed that Wangchuk’s lawyers and family members were allowed to meet him for one hour on separate occasions in early October.
