New Delhi, February 19: The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition filed by Sonam Wangchuk‘s wife, Geetanjali Angmo, challenging his detention and seeking his release.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court questioned the accuracy of translated transcripts of speeches related to Wangchuk, who is a social activist from Ladakh.
On Monday, the court ordered that the original pen drive provided to Wangchuk at the time of his arrest in September 2025 be presented before the court by Thursday.
This directive came just a day before the final hearing of the petition filed by Geetanjali, who argued that her husband’s detention is marred by procedural flaws.
She contended that Wangchuk was not adequately informed about the reasons for his arrest and that his speeches over the past few years were misrepresented to suggest he incited violence last September, resulting in four deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Justices Arvind Kumar and P.B. Varale noted the ‘discrepancies’ between the original speeches and the translated versions, stating, “There should be no variation in what is in the speech. The petitioner and the state may have differing interpretations, but we must agree on the original text of the speech.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Wangchuk, pointed out that some statements related to the activist were missing from the structured chart presented by the authorities in court.
He argued, “This is a unique detention order. You are relying on something that does not even exist.”
In response, the bench stated, “We need the actual transcript of the speeches. We believe there is a difference between what is in your text and what the officials are referring to.”
The case has been adjourned to Thursday to allow Sibal time to complete his arguments.