Climate Activist Sonam Wangchuk's Wife Challenges NSA Detention in Supreme Court: Legal Battle for Justice

Sonam Wangchuk's wife petitions Supreme Court challenging NSA detention

New Delhi:

Gitanjali J Angmo has filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking the immediate release of her husband, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was detained last week under the National Security Act (NSA) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

In her legal challenge, Angmo questions the legitimacy of applying the stringent anti-terror law against Wangchuk and contests the grounds for his arrest.

Taking to social media platform X, Angmo expressed concern about her husband's wellbeing, stating: "I have sought relief from the SUPREME COURT OF INDIA through a HABEAS CORPUS petition against @Wangchuk66's detention. It is one week today. Still I have no information about Sonam Wangchuk's health, the condition he is in nor the grounds of detention."

Angmo has firmly rejected allegations that her husband maintained contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives, instead accusing Ladakh police of pursuing a predetermined agenda.

"Whatever the DGP is saying, he has an agenda. They don't want to implement the 6th Schedule under any circumstances and want to make someone a scapegoat," she claimed, referencing demands to include Ladakh under the Constitution's Sixth Schedule, which would establish Autonomous District Councils for tribal majority areas with powers for local legislation and policing.

On Wednesday, Angmo addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, Home Minister Amit Shah, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and the Leh District Collector, which she subsequently shared on X.

In her communication, she alleged that a "full-scale witch hunt has been unleashed" over the past month to "kill the spirit" of the climate activist, asserting that Wangchuk could "never be a threat to anyone, let alone his nation".

Angmo raised several pointed questions: "Am I not entitled to meet and speak with my husband on the phone and in person wherever he is detained? Can I not be of assistance to my husband to know his ground of detention and to espouse his legal rights of seeking justice before the court of law? Am I not entitled to know the condition of my husband, who has been in detention since 26 September 2025, with no communication with me or anyone else close to us? As a responsible citizen of India, are we not entitled to peaceful freedom of expression and movement?"

Wangchuk was arrested on September 26 and transferred to a Jodhpur prison shortly after violent protests erupted in Leh, resulting in at least four fatalities. Authorities have temporarily eased restrictions in the region for several hours on Tuesday to allow residents to purchase essential supplies. Law enforcement has apprehended 44 individuals in connection with the violence.