New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till October 29 the hearing of a plea filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) and seeking his release.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria granted the adjournment after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, sought permission to amend the petition.
The court allowed Angmo to amend her habeas corpus plea to include challenges to the grounds of detention recently supplied by the Central government.
Earlier, Angmo had approached the Supreme Court claiming that no grounds of detention had been shared by the authorities when Wangchuk was detained.
During the brief hearing, Sibal informed the court that Wangchuk was not allowed to share his notes with his wife.
“He has made certain notes on his detention which he wanted to pass to the lawyer for his wife. He is entitled to legal assistance, and these notes should be shared,” Sibal submitted.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said he had no objection to the notes being shared, but insisted that the delay in supplying detention grounds should not become a basis to challenge the detention itself.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26 and later shifted to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan, after being accused of inciting violence in Ladakh during protests that left four people dead and over 80 injured. The protests, led by local groups, have been demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Angmo’s plea contends that the detention is not genuinely connected to national security or public order, but is instead an attempt to silence a respected environmentalist advocating democratic and ecological causes.
According to the petition, Wangchuk’s actions were entirely peaceful and Gandhian, falling within his constitutional right to free speech and assembly under Article 19.
It alleges that false and defamatory narratives have been circulated against Wangchuk, including baseless claims of links with Pakistan and China, aimed at discrediting his environmental movement.
The plea further challenges Wangchuk’s transfer to Jodhpur Jail, over 1,000 kilometres from Ladakh, calling it unjustified and punitive.
