A file image of the Supreme Court of India
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (October 14, 2025) adjourned to October 15 the hearing of a habeas corpus petition filed by Dr. Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, following the September 24 violence in Leh.
A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria deferred the matter on a request by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who informed the court that he was required to appear before a special Bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai at 2 p.m. in a separate matter.
On October 6, the court had issued notice to the Union government and the Ladakh administration, but left it to the authorities to decide whether the grounds of Mr. Wangchuk’s detention could be shared with his wife. The Bench had referred to Section 8 of the NSA, which mandates that the grounds be communicated only to the detainee.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing both the Centre and the Ladakh administration, had submitted that the detention grounds were “immediately” furnished to Mr. Wangchuk, and that “there was no further obligation” to share them with anyone else. Mr. Sibal had countered that without access to these grounds, Dr. Angmo would be “handicapped” in arguing the habeas corpus plea and demonstrating the arbitrariness of the detention.
When Mr. Sibal pointed out that the petition had been filed directly under Article 32 since the detention order was issued by the Centre, the Bench queried why the petitioner had not approached the High Court first. “We will hear you all next week and decide,” the court said, declining to pass any interim relief.
It, however, recorded Mr. Mehta’s assurance that the authorities would ensure Mr. Wangchuk’s medical needs were met in accordance with prison rules. “It is observed that the detenue receives medical care as required and the same shall be facilitated as per the extant prison rules,” the order noted.
Mr. Wangchuk, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee known for his work in sustainable education and environmental innovation, was detained under the NSA after protests in Leh turned violent, leaving four civilians dead and several others injured. Authorities have alleged that his speeches, which invoked “self-immolation” as a mode of protest, posed a threat to public order.
Dr. Angmo’s petition has sought a direction from the detaining authorities to produce her husband before the court, stating that since his detention at Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan on September 26, there is no information available about his health or the grounds of detention. She has also accused officials of running a “systematic and false campaign” to malign Mr. Wangchuk’s peaceful movement for Ladakh’s fragile ecology.
Mr. Wangchuk is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan. He has said he is prepared to remain in custody until an independent judicial inquiry is ordered into the killings during the Leh protest. In a letter from Jodhpur jail, released by advocate Mustafa Haji on October 5, he urged Ladakh residents to continue their movement “in the true Gandhian way of non-violence.”
Published – October 14, 2025 03:30 pm IST
