Supreme Court adjourns to Feb 9 hearing on wife’s plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk’s detention
A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale adjourned the matter.
The top court on Wednesday had asked the Center whether there was any possibility of the government reconsidering Wangchuk’s detention considering his health condition.
Additional solicitor general KM Nataraj had stated that Wangchuk was responsible for the violence in Leh last year in which four people were killed and 161 injured.
On Tuesday, the Central and Union Territory administration of Ladakh had told the high court that Wangchuk was arrested for provoking people in a border area where regional sensitivity is at stake.
Justifying Wangchuk’s arrest, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the bench that all procedural safeguards were followed while ordering his arrest under the National Security Act (NSA).
On Monday, the Center had said Wangchuk was trying to incite Generation Z for protests like those in Nepal and Bangladesh. Wangchuk even touched on Arab Spring-like agitation that led to the toppling of multiple governments in Arab world countries, Mehta said.
The NSA empowers the Center and states to detain individuals to prevent them from behaving in a manner “prejudicial to the defense of India”. The maximum period of detention is 12 months, but it can be canceled earlier.
Wangchuk, who was detained in Jodhpur Central Jail on January 29, denied allegations that he made a statement such as the ‘Arab Spring’ to overthrow the government, and emphasized that he had the democratic right to criticize and protest.
Angmo’s senior lawyer Kapil Sibal alleged that the police resorted to “borrowed material” and selective videos to mislead the custodial authority.
Angmo claims that the detention is illegal and arbitrary, violating his fundamental rights.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26 last year, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh led to four deaths in the Union Territory. The government accused him of inciting violence.
The plea said it was completely “unreasonable” for Wangchuk to be suddenly targeted after more than three decades of recognition at the state, national and international levels for his contributions to grassroots education, innovation and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India.
Angmo said the unfortunate incidents of violence in Leh on September 24 last year could in no way be attributed to Wangchuk’s actions or statements.
Angmo said Wangchuk himself had condemned the violence through his social media accounts and categorically said that violence would lead to the failure of Ladakh’s “tapasya” and its five-year peaceful quest, adding that it was the saddest day of his life.
