Sonam Wangchuk indulged in activities prejudicial to national security, Leh DM tells Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Leh District Magistrate on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that activist, Sonam Wangchuk indulged in activities prejudicial to the national security, resulting into his detention under the National Security Act.

"The detention order came to be passed after duly considering the material as mandated under 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, maintenance of public order essential to the community as mentioned in the grounds of detention," an affidavit filed by Leh DM said.

The officer further said that the detention order has been forwarded to the advisory board as required under section 10 of the National Security Act, 1980.

The affidavit also stated, "He is not in illegal detention. His wife was immediately informed about the arrest by Leh police, timely informed about his transfer to Jodhpur jail also."

The affidavit also contended Wangchuk has not made any representation as required under Section 10 of the Act.

His wife has, however, sent a letter addressed to the President and neither to the Advisory Board nor to any of the statutory authorities, it pointed out. 

Under the scheme of Section 10 of the Act, only the detenue can make a representation. However, since a copy of the letter addressed by the petitioner to the President was marked to the Union Territory of Ladakh, the said letter is also placed before the Advisory Board, it added.

After Wangchuk was detained on September 26, he was medically examined and he was certified to be medically and physically fit. 

"The detenue was thereafter brought to Central Jail, Jodhpur, Rajasthan where again he was medically checked up in a prescribed manner," it said. 

The detenue has informed the medical officer that he is not on any medication. He has been examined medically, periodically since then strictly as per the jail rules and is found to be having no medical complications or requiring any medication, it said.

Meanwhile, Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali Angmo -- who has filed an habeas corpus petition in the top court challenging his detention -- also filed an affidavit alleging that she has been put under surveillance. 

"I am being followed and under surveillance in Delhi constantly. I have observed this fact after I came to Delhi on September 30, 2025 and held a press conference in Delhi on the same day. As soon as I step out of my accommodation in Delhi, a car and a man on a bike trails me wherever I go across Delhi. This surveillance is inconsistent with the rights I enjoy as a citizen of this country under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution," she claimed.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria deferred the hearing in the case on request of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented the petitioner. 

The court decided to hear the case on Wednesday. 

In a related development, Jodhpur Central Jail, superintendent informed the court that Wangchuk, was not lodged in a solitary confinement and was entitled to all rights available to a detenu including access to visitors, 

In an affidavit, the officer said that Wangchuk was not suffering from any chronic conditions and was medically sound and physically fit.

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