Ladakh Activist Sonam Wangchuk To Be Freed As Centre Lifts NSA

Detention of environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA), has been revoked by The Union Government. The decision was taken to restore peace and create an conducive to dialogue in Ladakh.  Government stated, Wangchuk was detained on September 26, 2025, under the NSA following a serious law-and-order situation in Leh on September 24, 2025. The detention order had been issued by the District Magistrate, Leh, with a view to maintaining public order in the region.

Government noted that  Wangchuk had already undergone nearly half of the maximum period of preventive detention under the NSA. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Wangchuk's wife, Dr. Gitanjali Angmo, challenging his detention since last October. Following his detention, Wangchuk was moved to Jodhpur Central Jail. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B. Varale is scheduled to hear the case on March 17.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Dr. Angmo, contested the detention, among other grounds, arguing that Wangchuk was not provided with all the relevant materials on which the detention was based. A key point of dispute was whether Wangchuk had access to videos of speeches that the administration described as inflammatory.

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While the authorities claimed they had given him a pen drive containing the videos, the Court questioned whether he actually had an opportunity to view them. During the hearing, the Court also observed that the administration appeared to be “reading too much into” Wangchuk's speeches. The bench further noted certain discrepancies in the translations of these speeches.