Authorities used irrelevant material to detain Wangchuk, wife tells SC

Jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J. Angmo told the Supreme Court on Monday, 12 January that the detaining authority had failed to apply proper mind and also relied on irrelevant material when ordering her husband’s detention.

Angmo informed the court that four videos cited by the detaining authority were not given to Wangchuk, which constitutes a violation of his right to effective representation.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, argued before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale that withholding these videos infringed Wangchuk’s right to make a proper representation before the advisory board and the government.

He further submitted that the district magistrate did not apply his mind while recommending Wangchuk’s detention to the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ladakh. “The grounds of detention are merely a copy-paste of the recommendation. The material relied upon should have a direct link to the detention order. Irrelevant material was relied upon,” Sibal said.

The hearing will continue on 13 January.

Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) on 26 September 2025, two days after violent protests in Ladakh that demanded statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union Territory left four dead and 90 injured. The government accuses Wangchuk of inciting the violence.

Angmo has previously submitted that her husband’s speech in Leh was intended to quell violence, not provoke it, and asserted that facts have been distorted to depict him as a criminal. She also told the court that Wangchuk was not furnished the complete grounds of his detention nor given a fair opportunity to make a representation to the relevant authorities.

The NSA empowers the Centre and states to detain individuals for up to 12 months to prevent actions prejudicial to India’s defence, though detention can be revoked earlier.

In her plea, Angmo maintained that the violent events in Leh on 24 September were not due to Wangchuk’s conduct or statements. Wangchuk himself condemned the violence on his social media platforms, stating it undermined Ladakh’s peaceful efforts over the past five years and calling it the saddest day of his life. 

With agency inputs