Security threat: Ladakh admn justifies NSA arrest of Sonam Wangchuk

The Ladakh administration on Tuesday defended before the Supreme Court climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, saying he “had been indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the state”.

Responding to Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo’s petition seeking his immediate release from detention, Leh District Magistrate Romil Singh Donk, who passed the September 26 detention order under the NSA, denied as “baseless” her allegation that her husband had been detained illegally and was being ill-treated during the detention.

The affidavit asserted that Wangchuk had been “lawfully detained under a lawful authority” after considering relevant material under Section 3(2) of the NSA.

“It is submitted that the above stated order of detention came to be passed by me after duly considering the material placed before me and, as mandated under the law, and after arriving at a subjective satisfaction on the circumstances that prevailed within the local limits of the jurisdiction where Wangchuk had been indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the state, public order and services essential to the community as mentioned in the grounds of detention,” the affidavit read.

“I was satisfied and continue to be satisfied with the detention of the detenue,” Donk asserted.

A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice NV Anjaria, which had on October 6 issued notices to the Centre, the Ladakh administration and others on Angmo’s petition seeking Wangchuk’s immediate release, on Tuesday deferred the hearing to October 15.

The activist was detained on September 26 under Section 3(2) of the NSA, two days after protests demanding Ladakh’s statehood and the Sixth Schedule status turned violent, leaving four persons dead and nearly 100 injured.

Terming the allegation of not being informed of the detention order as “completely false and misleading”, the affidavit said the detenue was categorically informed about his arrest under the NSA and his transfer to Central Jail, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and that his wife was also immediately informed about it.

The Leh District Magistrate said Wangchuk was communicated the grounds of his detention on September 29 and his signature was taken on the receiving copy.

The affidavit stated that Wangchuk had been medically examined five times between September 26 and October 9, and “he was certified to be medically and physically fit” and that he had told the authorities that “he is not on any medication”.

It said notwithstanding the fact that nearly a fortnight had elapsed since he was detained, “no representation has been made by Wangchuk to the detaining authority against his detention.”

In a separate affidavit, Jodhpur Central Jail superintendent Pradeep Lakhawat told the top court that Wangchuk was not in solitary confinement and that he had been kept in a 20x20 ft standard barrack.

His brother Tsetan Dorje and lawyer Mustaf Haji were allowed to meet him on October 4 for one hour, Lakhawat said, adding that his wife (petitioner) and another counsel Sarvam Ritam Khare met him on October 7. At Wangchuk’s request, he was given a laptop, the affidavit stated.