New Delhi, Oct 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh on an amended petition filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA).
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria granted ten days to the government to respond and scheduled the next hearing for November 24. The court also allowed senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo, to file a rejoinder, if necessary.
The amended plea was filed after the October 15 hearing, when the court allowed Angmo to include additional grounds against Wangchuk’s detention. At that time, the bench had noted an affidavit from the Jodhpur Central Jail authorities stating that Wangchuk’s elder brother and lawyer had met him in custody.
Earlier, Sibal had requested permission for Wangchuk to exchange notes with his wife — a request Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre and Ladakh administration, said he had “no objection” to.
The top court had earlier issued notices to the Centre and the UT government on October 6, though it declined to pass interim orders directing authorities to share the detention grounds.
Wangchuk, a noted environmentalist from Ladakh, was detained on September 26 under the NSA, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and around 90 injured. Authorities have accused him of inciting the violence.
The NSA empowers the government to detain individuals to prevent actions deemed “prejudicial to the defence of India,” with detention permissible for up to 12 months unless revoked earlier.
