Nothing left in matter: Supreme Court disposes plea by Sonam Wangchuk's wife against his detention

Supreme Court dismisses plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk's detention, noting the Centre revoked it on March 14, 2026.

The Supreme Court on Monday (March 23, 2026) disposed of petitions filed by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and his wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, challenging his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) after being informed that he had been released from confinement on March 14.

A Bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar closed the case on Monday (March 23, 2026) after multiple hearings that spanned over a month.

On an earlier occasion, the court had asked the government to release Mr. Wangchuk on health grounds. But the Centre refused the suggestion, saying the “health facade was manufactured and synthetic”. It maintained that the activist, detained in Jodhpur Central Jail, was “fit, hale and hearty” and had been medically examined 24 times over the past five months of his confinement.

Mr. Wangchuk was detained under the NSA on September 26 last year, two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory.

The activist, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, argued that malice on the part of authorities was at the bottom of his detention, which was evident from the fact that the local authorities chose to “hide” his public messages calling for peace after the protests seeking statehood for Ladakh led to violence. He contended that “his messages for peace were misconceived as calls for violence”.

On the other hand, the Centre and the Ladakh administration accused Mr. Wangchuk of using the veneer of Gandhian non-violence to disguise the act of inciting younger and impressionable generations to resort to violence.