On Wednesday (February 4), the Supreme Court heard the petition related to the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk. During this, the court has asked the central government to reconsider its decision to detain Wangchuk under the NSA (National Security Act).
A bench of Justices Arvind Kumar and PB Varale was hearing a petition filed by Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali J Angmo against his preventive detention. The court told Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing on behalf of the Centre, that Sonam Wangchuk's condition is not well. He has been in jail for about five months.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court said that Sonam Wangchuk's condition is not good. He has been in jail for about five months. The court said that 'Sonam's health condition in custody is definitely not good. The report we saw earlier shows that her health is not that good'.
The Supreme Court said that there could be some age related symptoms, or maybe there could be some other reason also. The court said that
Is there any possibility for the government to reconsider or reconsider this? Whereas Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K.M. Nataraj said that he will put this suggestion of the Supreme Court before the authorities.
Sonam Wangchuk was detained under National Security Restrictions (NSA) following protests in Leh in September 2025 demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Last month, his wife Gitanjali Angmo's lawyer had argued that Wangchuk has a democratic right to criticize and protest against the government and such sentiments do not pose a threat to the security of the state, which could justify his detention.
In response, the central government and the Leh administration on Monday claimed that Wangchuk wanted to create a situation in the union territory similar to the violence and agitation that took place in Nepal and Bangladesh. The government alleged that Wangchuk addressed the central government as 'they', thereby highlighting separatist tendencies, and incited people born between 1997 to 2012 (Generation Z) to join the civil war.
On Monday, the government said, 'Sonam Wangchuk addresses the central government as they. This division of us and them is enough reason for her detention by the National Security Agency (NSA). There is no such thing as us and them here. We are all Indians'. On Tuesday, the government said that all procedural precautions were followed in passing the detention order against Wangchuk.
During the hearing held today, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K.M. Nataraj argued that Wangchuk was responsible for the violence in Leh last year. He said, 'Four people died and 161 people were injured in this incident. His inflammatory speech, provocation and provocation were enough.
The ASG also argued that only the detention order has been challenged in this case. Nataraj said, 'The custody order was approved by the state government on March 10, 2025. No challenge has been made to the approval order or confirmation order of the state government. Only the custody has been challenged. He also said that an advisory board had given its report on Wangchuk's detention. The advisory board had gone to Jodhpur, Wangchuk had participated in the proceedings, he had presented his case, he was not denied the opportunities that could have been given to him. And after examining all the aspects, the advisory board has given a report.
