Last Updated:
Gitanjali J Angmo petitions Supreme Court for Sonam Wangchuk’s release, challenging his NSA detention after Ladakh protests.
Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo (Credits: ANI)
Jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the former’s detention under the National Security Act, and seeking his immediate release. The top court will hear the petition on Monday.
In the plea, the co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), has claimed that she has been kept under virtual house arrest in Leh, while students and staff of the institute are facing harassment, intimidation, and intrusive investigations, news agency PTI reported.
Recommended Stories
She argued that no grounds of detention and arrest of Wangchuk were disclosed, and that no clothes or medicines were allowed for him inside the jail.
In her plea filed through senior lawyer Vivek Tankha and lawyer Sarvam Ritam Khare, Angmo has also questioned the decision to invoke the NSA against Wangchuk, which allows detention without a trial for up to 12 months.
The plea alleged that Wangchuk’s detention was “illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional”, violating the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
“The arbitrary transfer of Wangchuk to Jodhpur, the harassment of students and staff of HIAL, the virtual house arrest of the petitioner herself, and the false propaganda linking Wangchuk to foreign entities clearly demonstrate mala fide state action intended to suppress democratic dissent and peaceful environmental activism,” the plea said.
Filing the habeas corpus (bring the person) writ, the spouse of the detained activist sought urgent listing of the plea and a direction to the Ladakh administration to “produce Sonam Wangchuk before this court forthwith”.
It also sought immediate access to the detenue, and quashing of the preventive detention order.
The plea, which named the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ladakh UT administration, deputy commissioner of Leh, and the Jodhpur jail superintendent as parties, also sought a direction to them to “allow immediate access of the petitioner to her husband, both telephonic and in person”.
“Wangchuk, who has been an internationally acclaimed innovator, environmentalist, and social reformer, has always espoused Gandhian and peaceful methods to highlight the ecological and democratic concerns of Ladakh,” it said.
Ladakh Unrest
Activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested on Friday by Leh Police under the National Security Act (NSA), days after violent protests in Ladakh killed four people and left over 90 injured. He was shifted to Rajasthan’s Jodhpur jail after being arrested.
Wangchuk has been accused of inciting people through his provocative statements during his hunger strike for Ladakh’s inclusion in the Sixth schedule and for statehood.
The protest, led by Wangchuk along with the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, seeks full statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution for Ladakh.
To press these demands, Wangchuk also started a hunger strike on September 10, ending it after 15 days on September 24, citing concerns over rising violence.
The government blamed Wangchuk for provocative speeches (including references to “Arab Spring-style protests” and “Gen Z protests in Nepal”) that allegedly incited the mob. The Home Ministry has also cancelled the FCRA certificate of Sonam Wangchuk’s NGO.
(With inputs from agencies)
About the Author
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
Leh, India, India
October 05, 2025, 22:56 IST
Loading comments…
Read More
