Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Dr. Gitanjali J. Angmo, has approached the Supreme Court of India seeking a habeas corpus order against his preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980. In her petition, she has urged the court to compel the authorities to disclose her husband’s whereabouts and release him immediately, noting that it has been more than a week since his detention. According to her plea, Mr. Wangchuk was reportedly taken into custody on September 26 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, following violent protests in Leh on September 24, but no official information has been shared with the family regarding the grounds for detention or his health condition.
The petition also questions the application of the NSA, pointing out that preventive detention is an extraordinary measure that severely curtails an individual’s fundamental right to liberty. Supreme Court precedents require such detention orders to be supported by “vital and relevant material” that proves the individual’s activities were prejudicial to public order or national security. The court has consistently emphasized that subjective satisfaction of the authorities must be based on proximate and objective facts, and not on remote, irrelevant, or speculative grounds. Judicial review in such cases focuses on whether due diligence and fairness were exercised in restricting a citizen’s liberty.
Meanwhile, the Ladakh administration defended its decision by attributing the unrest in Leh to Mr. Wangchuk’s continued hunger strike and a series of speeches they described as provocative. Officials alleged that his references to movements like the Arab Spring and Nepal’s agitations, coupled with videos circulating online, played a role in fueling the violence that led to arson, attacks on public institutions, and the deaths of four people. Stressing that it was “not advisable” to keep him in Leh due to the tense environment, the administration shifted him out of the Union Territory. The Supreme Court’s intervention is now awaited, with activists and civil society groups rallying for his release and warning against misuse of preventive detention laws against peaceful protest movements.
