Supreme Court to hear plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk’s NSA detention, alleged to be arbitrary and rights-violating.
Petition claims detention is based on vague, outdated allegations and aims to suppress peaceful dissent in Ladakh.
Plea highlights procedural violations, including delayed communication of detention grounds and politically timed actions against the activist.
The Supreme Court is set to hear on November 24 a petition filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA). The plea terms Wangchuk’s detention illegal, arbitrary, and a violation of his fundamental rights.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria is scheduled to take up the matter, according to the court’s cause list. The top court had earlier sought responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration following an amended petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26 under the NSA, two days after violent protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and 90 injured. Authorities have accused him of inciting the unrest.
The plea argues that the detention is based on “stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions,” lacking any connection to genuine concerns of public order or national security. It claims the move represents an abuse of preventive detention powers and undermines constitutional liberties.
It further states that the actions against Wangchuk — including notices for land lease cancellation, FCRA issues, a proposed CBI inquiry, and tax summons — came suspiciously close to elections and ongoing negotiations between local bodies and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The petition alleges these steps form a coordinated attempt to silence a respected public figure known for decades of work in education, innovation, and environmental conservation.
The plea also notes that Wangchuk condemned the September 24 violence, calling it the “saddest day of his life,” and consistently advocated peaceful protest. It highlights that the complete grounds of detention were supplied after a 28-day delay, far exceeding NSA timelines, which require communication within five days and, in exceptional cases, within ten.
Under the NSA, governments can detain individuals for up to 12 months to prevent actions deemed prejudicial to national defence or security.
