The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Union government on a habeas corpus petition filed by Gitanjali Angmo, wife of Ladakh-based activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) following last month’s violence in Leh.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria sought the response of the government, the Ladakh administration, and the Jodhpur jail authorities during a brief hearing. The matter has been posted for the next hearing on Tuesday, October 14, legal news website Bar and Bench reported.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, told the court that the plea contests Wangchuk’s detention. “We are against the detention,” he said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, stated that the grounds of detention had been supplied to Wangchuk.
“Issue notice,” the Bench directed.
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Wangchuk, currently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan, was detained under the stringent NSA on September 26, two days after protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory.
In her plea, filed through senior lawyer Vivek Tankha and lawyer Sarvam Ritam Khare, Angmo questioned the decision to invoke the NSA, which allows detention without trial for up to 12 months.
The habeas corpus petition 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 Wangchuk and quashing of the preventive detention order.
The plea, which named the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ladakh UT administration, the deputy commissioner of Leh, and the Jodhpur jail superintendent as parties, additionally requested a direction to allow the petitioner immediate access to her husband, both telephonically and in person.
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