The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned to January 7, 2026, the hearing on a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA).
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria deferred the matter due to paucity of time.
Angmo has assailed Wangchuk’s detention, ordered on September 26, as illegal and arbitrary, alleging that it violates his fundamental rights. On November 24, the top court had earlier deferred the hearing after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh, sought time to respond to the rejoinder filed by Angmo. Prior to that, on October 29, the court had sought responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on an amended version of the plea.
Wangchuk was detained under the stringent NSA two days after violent protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and around 90 injured. The government has accused him of inciting the violence.
In her amended plea, Angmo contended that the detention order is based on “stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions” and lacks any “live or proximate connection” with the grounds cited for invoking preventive detention. She argued that the order is devoid of legal and factual justification.
“Such arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to a gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process,” the plea said, asserting that the detention order is liable to be set aside by the court.
The petition also termed it “wholly preposterous” that Wangchuk, who has been recognised for over three decades at the state, national and international levels for his work in grassroots education, innovation and environmental conservation in Ladakh and across India, would suddenly be targeted in this manner.
Angmo further stated that the violent incidents in Leh on September 24 could not be attributed to Wangchuk’s actions or statements. She pointed out that Wangchuk had himself condemned the violence on social media and said that violence would lead to the failure of Ladakh’s peaceful “tapasya” of the last five years, describing it as the saddest day of his life.
The National Security Act empowers the Centre and state governments to detain individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner “prejudicial to the defence of India”. The maximum period of detention under the law is 12 months, although the order can be revoked earlier.
