Major development in Sonam Wangchuk arrest case as SC to hear wife’s plea challenging detention of the climate activist

Sonam Wangchuk case: In a significant development in the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, the Supreme Court of the country adjourned the hearing of a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, the wife of jailed climate activist. Deferring the plea to January 8, the bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice P B Varale decided that the case of Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act will be heard the next day.

What Supreme Court said on Sonam Wangchuk’s detention case?

“Tomorrow? My brother (Justice Varale) wanted to go through this matter,” Justice Kumar observed. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Sonam, agreed to the suggestion.

Notably, the matter was earlier heard by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria. As per media reports, the government has accused him of inciting the violence but the plea claims the detention is illegal and an arbitrary exercise violating his fundamental rights.

Why was Sonam Wangchuk arrested under NSA?

For those unversed to the case, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on September 26. As per a report carried by news agency PTI, the arrest was done after two days after violent protests which demanded statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. Notably, the protests left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union territory.

According to the amended plea, the detention order is founded upon “stale FIRs, vague imputations, and speculative assertions, lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention and is thus devoid of any legal or factual justification”.

“Such arbitrary exercise of preventive powers amounts to gross abuse of authority, striking at the core of constitutional liberties and due process, rendering the detention order liable to be vitiated by this court,” it alleged.

(With inputs from agencies)