Delhi HC to hear plea seeking nod for Wangchuk protest on Wednesday

Delhi HC declined to urgently hear Sonam Wangchuk's plea for a protest in support of Ladakh's Sixth Schedule status; hearing set for Wednesday.

The Delhi high court on Tuesday refused to urgently hear a plea to permit climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and his associates to stage a stir for Ladakh’s Sixth Schedule status at Jantar Mantar in the city.

Activist Sonam Wangchuk at Ladakh Bhawan on Monday. (PTI)

Though the counsel representing the petitioner — Apex Body Leh — urged a bench of chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela to list the plea on Tuesday, the judges said that the matter would be listed on Wednesday. “Tomorrow, after we read the papers,” the court said to the Body’s counsel.

The body, which had initiated the “Delhi Chalo Padyatra” along with Wangchuk and 200 supporters, claimed in the plea that the Delhi police on Saturday arbitrarily rejected its request of holding the demonstration without any reasonable grounds for denial. “By denying permission, the respondent is effectively suppressing this fundamental right and limiting the petitioner’s ability to engage in public discourse, undermining the principle of open expression,” the petition added.

The plea seeking permission to protest from October 8 to October 23 was filed days after the Delhi police released Wangchuk and his supporters on Wednesday. They were detained by the Delhi police on Monday on Singhu Border while leading the march.

The padyatra was organised by the Body, which along with Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), were jointly spearheading an agitation over the past four years in support of statehood, extension of the Constitution’s sixth schedule, early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

After the denial, Wangchuk on Sunday sat on a fast with his supporters at the Ladakh Bhawan. Taking to X, he said, “Another rejection, another frustration. Finally this morning we got this rejection letter for the officially designated place for protests.”