The Supreme Court on Thursday examined the procedural fairness of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act (NSA), after his wife Gitanjali J. Angmo alleged that the four videos relied upon by the authorities were never supplied to him and that he was shown only their thumbnails.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale said it would view the relevant video material, including a 40-minute recording of the interaction between police officials and the detenue, and posted the matter for further hearing on February 23.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Angmo in the habeas corpus petition challenging the detention, argued that the failure to furnish the videos violated Wangchuk’s right to make an effective representation before the government and the advisory board.
Sibal submitted that the State claimed a DIG had shown four videos to the detenue on a laptop on October 5, 2025, but those clips were not present in the device provided to him.
“Let us assume they showed it to be; that is not the requirement of law. The requirement is to give it to me. They have to provide the document; I don’t have to ask. It is their constitutional duty to supply,” Sibal argued, adding that the videos were “never supplied”.
Counsel assisting him told the court that a pen drive was inserted before Wangchuk and he could see only the thumbnails, which were never played.
Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, appearing for the Union government, submitted that a video recording of the interaction between the DIG and the detenue would clarify the position and show what transpired.
The bench indicated it would examine the recordings before proceeding further.
On the previous hearing, the court had questioned the Centre on the accuracy of transcripts of the videos relied upon for detention, observing that translations must be precise “in the age of artificial intelligence”. It had asked the government to produce actual transcripts of Wangchuk’s statements after the petitioner contended that certain words attributed to him were never spoken.
The habeas corpus petition seeks a declaration that Wangchuk’s preventive detention under the NSA is illegal. The law permits preventive detention for up to 12 months to prevent a person from acting in a manner prejudicial to national security, subject to procedural safeguards including the right to make a representation.
Angmo has contended that the alleged violence in Leh on September 24 last year cannot be attributed to Wangchuk, who, according to her, condemned the incident on social media and described it as detrimental to Ladakh’s peaceful movement.
The matter will now be taken up on February 23 after the court examines the video material placed on record.
