Sonam Wangchuk
Sonam Wangchuk arrest: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on plea seeking activist's release, his wife seeks grounds of detention
New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the central government on a plea filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali J. Angmo, who sought the release of her husband arrested after the Ladakh statehood protest turned violent, media reports said.
A top court bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria asked the Centre to respond.
The matter will be heard next on October 14.
The central government, Ladakh administration and the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail are the respondents.
Angmo, who is reportedly lodged in a Jodhpur jail, has filed a writ petition challenging Wangchuk's detention as illegal as no ground of arrest was supplied to either of the two.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Angmo in the court, argued the grounds of detention should be served to the wife to which Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the grounds of detention was served to the detenu (Sonam Wangchuk).
Mehta argued there was no legal requirement for the grounds of detention to be served to the wife.
When Sibal pushed for an interim order, Justice Kumar refused but asked the SG what was the impediment in serving the grounds of detention to the wife, Live Law reported.
Mehta reiterated that there was no legal requirement for the grounds of detention to be served to the wife.
Sibal argued that the non-supply of the grounds of detention cannot be taken as a ground to challenge the detention so the wife was seeking the grounds.
The detention order can't be challenged unless the wife gets the grounds of detention, Sibal said.
The court has agreed to examine whether the grounds can be served to the petitioner, the wife of Wangchuk in this case.
Wangchuk was arrested for allegedly provoking a mob that turned violent and resulted in the deaths of four protesters during the agitation demanding statehood for Ladakh.
A key trigger was a hunger strike led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk starting around 10 September 2025.
Also, two older protesters (72-year-old Tsering Angchuk and 60-year-old Tashi Dolma) who were part of a longer hunger strike became seriously ill and were hospitalized.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
