Sonam Wangchuk (File photo)
NEW DELHI: The central government on Wednesday opposed Sonam Wangchuk’s release on medical grounds, saying the climate activist was “hale and hearty and just suffering from a minor infection.”The government said it was not desirable to review Wangchuk’s detention as suggested by the court. The Ladakh-based climate activist is detained by authorities under the National Security Act (NSA) in connection with the violent protests in Leh last year, in which four people were killed and more than 150 were injured. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the submission before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale in response to the Supreme Court’s earlier query, asking the authorities to consider Wangchuk’s release on medical grounds over his deteriorating health issue. “He has been examined periodically some 24 times as per the jail manual. He is fit and hearty. He had a digestive issue, an infection. If we start making such exceptions (to release him), it will not lead to a positive outcome. The grounds on which the detention order was passed continue. It will not be possible to release him on health grounds. It may not be desirable, either. Since it has fallen from your lordships, we have given utmost consideration, ” Tushar Mehta, representing the government, told the Supreme Court. Observing that the medical condition of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been in detention for more than four months, is not very good, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre last week to rethink/relook its decision to continue to keep him in custody.SC had earlier directed authorities to conduct Wangchuk’s medical examination by a specialised doctor and file a report before it. The activist is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail. The medical report was placed before the apex court during the last hearing.Wangchuk was detained on September 26 last year under the National Security Act following protests in Leh over demands of statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. SC is hearing the plea moved by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, against his preventive detention.Earlier, the government had told the court that the activist was trying to create political and social turmoil and unrest in Ladakh, and was making an attempt to emulate what happened in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
