SC adjourns plea against Sonam Wangchuk’s NSA detention to 10 March

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned to 10 March the hearing on a plea challenging the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA), saying it would first examine video recordings of his speeches submitted before the court.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P.B. Varale said it would go through the pen drives containing the videos during the Holi vacation. “We wanted to see those pen drives. We have asked the Registrar IT to make arrangements during vacations,” the bench observed, adding that it would complete the hearing on the next date and reserve its verdict thereafter.

The petition has been filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, who has challenged the preventive detention as illegal and violative of his fundamental rights.

During the hearing, the Centre sought an adjournment, saying Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was engaged in another court. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, opposed the request, arguing that the government should be asked to file written submissions instead. The bench initially deferred the matter and later took it up again when Mehta appeared and informed the court that a CD containing relevant material had been submitted.

The court then fixed 10 March as the next date, saying it would watch the videos before hearing detailed arguments.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Centre whether Wangchuk’s detention could be reconsidered in view of his health condition. Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj had submitted that Wangchuk was responsible for instigating violence in Leh on 24 September last year, in which four people were killed and 161 injured.

The Centre and the Ladakh administration have maintained that Wangchuk was detained for allegedly inciting people in a sensitive border region, and that all procedural safeguards under the NSA were followed.

The law allows preventive detention for up to 12 months to prevent acts prejudicial to the defence of India or public order.

Mehta earlier told the court that Wangchuk attempted to mobilise youth for protests similar to developments in Nepal and Bangladesh, and had referred to an Arab Spring-like agitation that led to the overthrow of governments in parts of the Arab world.

Sibal, however, argued that authorities relied on “borrowed material” and selectively edited videos to justify the detention order.

Angmo has contended in her plea that it is “wholly preposterous” to target Wangchuk after decades of work in education, innovation and environmental conservation, and that he had himself condemned the violence through social media posts.

Wangchuk, who has been lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail since 26 September last year, has denied allegations that he called for overthrowing the government, asserting that he only exercised his democratic right to protest and criticise policies.

The activist was detained two days after protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh turned violent, an episode the government links to his speeches — a claim his family and legal team have strongly disputed.