sc-to-hear-wangchuk-s-bail-plea-on-monday

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a habeas corpus plea filed by the wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is presently detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting violent Gen Z protests in Ladakh.

 

Gitanjali J Angmo has termed his detention illegal and arbitrary exercise that violates his fundamental rights.

 

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria will hear the matter. The Apex Court had earlier deferred the hearing after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the UT of Ladakh, sought time to respond to the rejoinder filed by Angmo.

Before that, on October 29, the SC had received responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on an amended plea filed by Wangchuk’s wife.
The amended plea states, “The detention order is founded upon stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions, and lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention. It is thus devoid of any legal justification.”

“This arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to a gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process, rendering the detention order liable to be vitiated by this Hon’ble Court,” it added.

It adds that despite being recognised at the state, national, and international levels for his role in education, innovation, and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India, “Wangchuk would suddenly be targeted.”

Angmo argues that whatever happened on September 24 cannot be directly or indirectly attributed to Wangchuk’s statement in any capacity.

She pointed out that apart from this, he publicly condemned the violence through a series of social media posts but was still detained by the authorities. He described it as the saddest day of his life.

Wangchuk was arrested under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on September 26, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory.