The Supreme Court on Monday pushed to December 8 the hearing on a plea filed by the wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has termed his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) “illegal, and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights.”
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N. V. Anjaria deferred the proceedings after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh, sought time to respond to the rejoinder submitted by Wangchuk’s wife.
The court had earlier, on October 29, sought responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on her amended petition.
The amended plea states that “the detention order is founded upon stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions, lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention and is thus devoid of any legal or factual justification.”
It adds that “such arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to a gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process, rendering the detention order liable to be vitiated by this court.”
Her petition points to Wangchuk’s long record in Ladakh’s public life.
It says “the detention order is wholly preposterous” given that for over three decades he has been recognised “at the state, national, and international levels for his contributions to grassroots education, innovation, and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India.”
The plea argues that authorities have no basis to link Wangchuk to the violent clashes that broke out in Leh on September 24. She states that the events “cannot be attributed to the actions or statements of Wangchuk in any manner.”
She notes that he condemned the violence on his social media handles, saying it would derail Ladakh’s “tapasya” of the last five years. He had described the day of the clashes as “the saddest day of his life”.
Wangchuk was detained under the NSA on September 26, two days after protests for statehood and Sixth Schedule status turned violent, leaving four people dead and 90 injured. The administration has accused him of inciting the unrest.
The NSA allows preventive detention for up to 12 months to stop individuals from acting in a way “prejudicial to the defence of India,” though the period can be ended earlier.