New Delhi: On a petition filed by the wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, the Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing to December 8, who has challenged his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) as illegal, arbitrary, and violative of fundamental rights.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria deferred the proceedings after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing for the Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh, asked for more time to respond to the rejoinder filed by Wangchuk's wife.
The apex court on October 29 had asked for responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on her amended petition. The detention order, the amended plea argued, was based on stale FIRs and vague and speculative allegations with no ‘live or proximate link’ to justify such a stringent law. It stated that the impugned order represents a gross abuse of powers of preventive detention and strikes at the very heart of constitutional freedoms.
The petitioner called it ‘wholly preposterous’ that Wangchuk, hailed for more than three decades for his work in grassroots education, innovation, and environmental conservation, would suddenly be perceived as a threat.
Furthermore, his wife added that the September 24 Leh violence, which killed four people and injured 90, could not be attributed to Wangchuk. The activist himself condemned the violence on social media as the ‘saddest day of his life’ while cautioning that such acts would derail Ladakh's peaceful ‘tapasya.’
Wangchuk was detained under the NSA on September 26, with the police accusing him of instigating the unrest during the protests over statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. Under the NSA, individuals can be detained for up to 12 months, unless the order is revoked earlier.