Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Central government has told the Supreme Court that detained Ladakh climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is in “perfectly good” health and is receiving the best possible medical treatment at AIIMS, Jodhpur. Appearing before a bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar, Additional Solicitor General K. M. Nataraj said Wangchuk’s condition is stable and that he is being treated better in Rajasthan than he would have been in Ladakh.
The remarks came during the hearing of a petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife, social entrepreneur Gitanjali Angmo, challenging his detention under the National Security Act. The Court had earlier observed that Wangchuk’s medical report was “not good” and had asked the Centre to consider reviewing his detention on health grounds. On Monday, the bench pressed the government on whether any progress had been made, to which Nataraj replied that no review had yet been carried out but that the activist was “getting the best of treatment”.
Counsel for Wangchuk urged the Court to reconsider his continued custody, pointing to his repeated complaints of stomach pain and other ailments. The bench, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s stance, reminding the ASG that the petition demands a more sensitive approach to liberty and health. Wangchuk, 59, has been held since his arrest last year over protests demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, and has consistently maintained that his actions were peaceful and within his democratic rights.
