Sonam Wangchuk’s detention: Supreme Court adjourns wife’s plea to December 8
The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing on the plea filed by Sonam Wangchuk’s wife challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) to December 8, 2025. The plea argues that Wangchuk’s detention is illegal, arbitrary, and violates his fundamental rights. It contends that the detention order is based on stale FIRs and vague, speculative assertions that lack legal or factual justification.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26, 2025, two days after violent protests in Leh, Ladakh, which the government accused him of inciting, though his wife and Wangchuk himself condemned the violence. The court deferred the matter to allow time for the Centre and Ladakh administration to respond to the rejoinder filed by Wangchuk’s wife.
Sonam Wangchuk’s detention
Sonam Wangchuk, a climate activist and advocate for Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth Schedule status, was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on September 26, 2025. His detention followed violent protests in Leh on September 24, which involved clashes with security forces and property damage. Authorities accused Wangchuk of inciting the unrest, though he publicly condemned the violence and called it the saddest day of his life, emphasizing that the violence would undermine Ladakh’s ongoing peaceful development efforts.
Wangchuk’s detention has been challenged legally by his wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, in the Supreme Court. The plea argues that his detention is illegal, arbitrary, and based on stale FIRs and vague accusations with no real connection to the grounds of detention. There are also complaints about procedural violations, such as the delay in providing the grounds of detention to Wangchuk beyond the statutory timeline mandated by the NSA. His wife contends that the detention is a tactic to silence his democratic dissent rather than a genuine security concern.
He was transferred to a jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and legal proceedings are ongoing. The Supreme Court has taken up the case to hear the plea filed by his wife, which contends that his detention lacks legal and factual justification and violates fundamental rights. The Court has yet to pass a final order, with hearings continuing and a plea adjourned to December 8, 2025.
Sonam Wangchuk was detained under NSA on September 26, 2025, after violent protests in Ladakh.
He is accused of inciting violence, which he denies and condemns.
His detention has been legally challenged as illegal and arbitrary by his wife in the Supreme Court.
There are procedural concerns including delays in providing the grounds of detention.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing the case with further orders pending.
This covers the key facts and legal context of Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under NSA as of November 2025.
