Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the authorities had failed to give him documents, particularly the four videos in which he is alleged to have made inflammatory speeches that resulted in unrest in Ladakh in September last year.

Four people were killed and 85 suffered injuries during the protests, resulting in his detention under the National Security Act.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P.B. Varale that, despite the detention order dated September 26 being served on Wangchuk based on the four videos, they were not provided to him as documents. Had
they been provided, he could have viewed them and responded, Sibal said.

Sibal stated that the denial of the videos constituted a gross violation of Wangchuk’s fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

According to Sibal, the four videos date back to the period between September 10 and September 24, 2025, and the detaining authority had sought to rely on them
as evidence of his role in the violence. But the failure to give Wangchuk access to the videos had caused a grave miscarriage of justice.

The senior counsel said the detaining authorities did not furnish the videos to his client despite the grounds of detention being served upon him on September 29, 2025.

On October 14, 2025, the Centre justified Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act in the Supreme Court, saying his actions were “prejudicial to the security of the state and maintenance of public order”, and added that he was in perfect health in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur Central Jail, where he is lodged.

Wangchuk was arrested under the NSA on September 26 following a massive unrest in Leh in the wake of violent demonstrations demanding the extension of protections under the Sixth Schedule and statehood for Ladakh.