The Centre on Monday defended the preventive detention of Ladakh-based social activist Sonam Wangchuk before the Supreme Court, arguing that his public speeches amounted to incitement, separatist messaging and a threat to national security, particularly in a strategically sensitive border region.
Appearing for the Union government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that Wangchuk had attempted to provoke the younger generation into pushing Ladakh towards a situation similar to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, citing violent uprisings and political instability in those countries as examples.
A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Prasanna Varale was hearing a petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Geetanjali, challenging his detention.
At the outset, the Bench observed that under Article 32, the court does not sit in appeal over detention orders, and the key question was whether the reasons, grounds and material relied upon for detention had a nexus with national security.
The Solicitor General submitted that the court’s role was not to assess its own satisfaction, but to examine whether the District Magistrate (DM) was justified in being satisfied that Wangchuk’s actions could disrupt public order.
According to the detention order, the DM concluded that Wangchuk’s speeches had the potential to incite harmful activities and disturb public peace.
Mehta said the detention order was passed after due process and within four hours. He told the court that a DIG had met Wangchuk, shown him the video clips of his speeches, and Wangchuk had agreed that the clips were authentic.
