The Supreme Court on Wednesday took on record the
amended plea of Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali J Angmo challenging the climate
activist's detention and sought the response of the Centre and Union Territory
of Ladakh in ten days.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria
asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the UT of
Ladakh, to file the response to the amended plea and posted the matter for
hearing on November 24.
The bench also allowed senior advocate Kapil Sibal
to file rejoinder, if any.
On October 15, the top court deferred the hearing on
the plea of Angmo after she sought to file an amended petition with additional
grounds for challenging the detention of Wangchuk, currently lodged in Central
jail at Jodhpur of Rajasthan.
It had noted that an affidavit filed by the jailor
of Jodhpur jail stated that Wangchuk's elder brother and lawyer met the detenue.
Earlier, Sibal had requested the court that Wangchuk
be permitted to exchange some notes with his wife.
The apex court had noted the submission of Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta that he has no problem with the detainee sharing notes
with his wife.
The top court on October 6 had issued notices to the
Centre and the Union Territory of Ladakh. It, however, refused to pass any
order on her plea for providing her the grounds of detention.
Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National
Security Act (NSA) 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. The government had accused him of inciting the
violence.
The NSA empowers the Centre and states to detain
individuals to prevent them from acting in a manner "prejudicial to the
defence of India". The maximum detention period is 12 months, though it
can be revoked earlier.