The Supreme Court of India has permitted activist Sonam Wangchuk to share his detention notes with his wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, following a hearing on Wednesday. The court ruled in favor of sharing the notes after the Ladakh administration expressed no objections. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Angmo, indicated that they will file an application to amend the petition and contest the grounds of Wangchuk’s detention.
Sibal emphasized the request for Wangchuk to be allowed to exchange notes with his wife during the proceedings. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta confirmed that the government had no objections to this arrangement. Wangchuk is currently held in jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, under the National Security Act (NSA) after protests for statehood status in Ladakh escalated into violence, resulting in four fatalities.
In an interview with news agency ANI, Gitanjali Angmo mentioned, “The hearing for our first petition was held on 6 October, during which we requested the grounds of the detention order and information on Sonam Wangchuk’s condition.” She met Wangchuk on October 7 and again on October 11.
The Supreme Court has made two significant orders: to provide the challenges that Wangchuk has against the detention orders and to amend the application to facilitate a challenge to the grounds of detention. The next hearing is scheduled for October 29.
The Supreme Court was addressing Angmo’s plea contesting Wangchuk’s detention under the NSA and seeking his immediate release. This appeal follows the violent protests in Ladakh that began on September 26, leading to Wangchuk’s detention. Authorities have accused him of inciting this violence, which resulted in at least four deaths and around 90 injuries. Angmo questioned the justification for invoking the NSA in her plea, filing a habeas corpus petition for Wangchuk’s immediate production before the court.
Earlier, the bench, comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, had postponed a hearing scheduled for October 15 due to time constraints.
