On Saturday, the Union authorities preventive detention canceled The fees in opposition to Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk come practically six months after she was arrested below the Nationwide Safety Act (NSA) following protests in Leh over statehood and constitutional ensures for the area.
The Union Residence Ministry stated in an announcement that the choice was taken “after due consideration” to advertise “peace, stability and mutual belief in Ladakh” and facilitate dialogue with stakeholders.
The federal government had accused Wangchuk of inciting the protests by his speeches. He was taken into custody on September 26, 2025 and lodged in Jodhpur Jail. The revocation of the preventive detention got here two days earlier than a habeas corpus listening to in opposition to it, and the Supreme Court docket indicated final week that this may be the ultimate listening to within the matter and would keep the order on the identical day.
Final week noticed the twenty fourth listening to of a habeas corpus petition filed by Mr. Wangchuk’s spouse, Gitanjali J. Ammo. Her lawyer Kapil Sibal expressed remorse over the repeated adjournments and stated, “That is sending the flawed sign to the entire nation.”
A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Valare adjourned the listening to until March 17 following the federal government’s submission that Solicitor Basic Tushar Mehta was unable to attend because of unwellness.
A minimum of three of the 24 adjournments on the difficulty have been requested by petitioners firstly of the listening to on Oct. 14, 15, and 29. The petition was filed by Mr. Angmo on October 3, claiming that Mr. Wangchuck’s detention was to silence the opposition and questioned a number of authorities statements attributed to Mr. Wangchuck.
The Supreme Court docket first took up the petition on October 5, with the primary listening to on procedural points. Mehta SG advised the court docket on October 6 that the authorities will think about whether or not it’s attainable to supply a replica of the detention order to Mr Angmo because it has already been given to Mr Wangchuk.
In its order, the court docket additionally said that “the detention authority shall, as applicable, be sure that detainees obtain medical care applicable to their situation…”
When the matter resurfaced on October 15, the petitioner sought permission to share with Angmo a word made by Wangchuk whereas in custody. The court docket granted the request and directed that the memo be despatched by the jail warden. On the similar listening to, Wangchuk’s lawyer knowledgeable the court docket that he wished to amend the writ petition to file extra materials.
On the subsequent listening to on October 29, the petitioners knowledgeable the court docket that they meant to amend the writ petition. Subsequently, on November 24, the court docket recorded {that a} evaluate affidavit had been filed by the petitioners. Nevertheless, the SG knowledgeable the court docket that the doc had solely been obtained the day earlier than and extra time was wanted to reply. The court docket recorded the request and restated the problems.
The difficulty was listed twice in December. At a listening to on December 8, Wangchuk was requested to look in court docket through video convention from jail. The federal government opposed this request, saying it couldn’t present such services primarily based on this problem alone. The court docket didn’t resolve on the request at that stage and deferred the matter to a later date.
There was one other public listening to in December, however it was postponed because of lack of time.
In January 2026, the case moved to Mr Wangchuck’s well being points. On January 29, the complainant submitted an utility for medical examination and diagnostic assessments, alleging that Wangchuk was affected by well being issues whereas in jail.
When the appliance was taken up, the federal government submitted medical information to the court docket displaying that Mr Wangchuk had been examined 21 occasions from the time of his arrest on September 26, 2025, to January 27, 2026. The report stated Mr Wangchuk’s blood stress and oxygen ranges have been inside regular limits. The federal government additionally advised the court docket that if additional therapy is required, it will likely be supplied and Mr Wangchuck shall be examined by a specialist if mandatory.
The court docket famous the federal government’s submission that Mr Wangchuk be supplied with the required medical therapy “instantly” and that he be examined by a specialist. Directing {that a} report on this regard be filed below seal, the court docket disposed of the appliance and restated the matter.
Dialogue on the legality of the detention continued on the subsequent listening to, with Mehta SG starting submissions on February 2 in protection of the detention order. The court docket famous that the argument remained incomplete and relisted the difficulty the subsequent day.
On the subsequent listening to, the court docket acknowledged listening to the arguments and directed that the case be relisted for continuation.
On February 3, the federal government claimed that the NSA was activated to stop acts that would disrupt safety in border areas. As arguments progressed, the court docket requested entry to the information on which the detention order was primarily based.
On February 11, the court docket famous that an unique file of the detention order has been created and can stay on file.
Different points arose surrounding the video recordings talked about within the detention order. On February 16, the court docket directed the Jodhpur jail authorities to get better the pen drives allegedly containing the recordings of the speeches proven to Mr. Wangchuk, stating that these “shall be obtained by the jail authorities from the detainee in a sealed field, sealed within the presence of Mr. Wangchuk and despatched to this court docket in a sealed field by the jail warden.”
When the matter got here up once more on February 19, the state submitted the pen drive in a sealed cowl to the court docket together with the confirmed proceedings. The appellants then submitted one other pen drive containing a recording from September 2025. The court docket recorded that arguments have been heard and relisted the matter.
The following listening to was held on March 10, however the listening to was postponed because of SG’s poor well being.
In an announcement on Saturday, the federal government stated Mr Wangchuck has already accomplished practically half of his NSA detention and reiterated the federal government’s willpower to deal with Ladakh’s issues by dialogue and a strong committee mechanism.
