NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of noted Ladakh-based climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the draconian National Security Act (NSA) and seeking his immediate release.
A bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria deferred the matter, citing a lack of time, and listed it for further consideration on Wednesday (tomorrow).
Earlier, on October 6, the apex court had issued notices to the Indian government and the Ladakh administration on the plea but refrained from directing them to disclose the grounds of Wangchuk’s detention at that stage. The matter was then scheduled for October 14.
Sonam Wangchuk, a globally acclaimed environmentalist and Ramon Magsaysay Award nominee, was detained on September 26 under the stringent NSA, just two days after massive protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status turned violent, resulting in the killing of four protesters and injuries to over 90 others in firing by Indian forces.
Although Wangchuk was on a hunger strike in Leh at the time, peacefully supporting the Ladakhis’ demands, authorities accused him of instigating the protests. His wife, however, has vehemently rejected the allegations, terming the detention “a blatant misuse of a preventive law against a peaceful campaigner advocating democratic rights.”
