Supreme Court issues notice to Centre, UT on wife’s plea
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Centre and Ladakh UT on a petition filed by Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo, challenging his detention under the stringent National Security Act, but refused to pass interim order to the authorities to give her the grounds of arrest after it was alleged they had been “served on the detenue (Wangchuk)”.Posting hearing on October 14, SC asked why she too shouldn’t be given grounds of arrest.Not being allowed to meet Wangchuk, wife tells Supreme CourtSolicitor General Tushar Mehta assured a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria that he would examine the feasibility of providing grounds of detention to Sonam Wangchuk’s family.Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, contended that she was not being allowed to meet him. SC asked her to approach the authority concerned and allowed her to move court if denied. Sibal argued that detention could not be challenged if the grounds of arrest were not provided.Mehta refuted the allegation, stating that 12 people had already been permitted to meet Wangchuk. The bench remarked, “Grounds have to be supplied as per judgments of this court. Why withhold it from his wife?” Mehta said the law requires grounds of arrest to be served on the detenue, not the wife, but added, “We will examine it. No issues as such, but we don’t want them to create a new ground to challenge the detention order.”The SG also claimed a hype was being created in the media, which Sibal strongly rebutted. The two got entangled in counter-allegations until the bench intervened, asking both not to make emotional arguments. In a lighter vein, Sibal said, “The SG kept provoking me and I fell into his trap.”Justice Aravind Kumar, smiling, remarked, “We do not know what is going on,” to which Sibal replied, “You should know what is going on.”Wangchuk was detained under NSA on September 26, days after protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four dead. Angmo has sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention for his release.
