The Centre on Monday (December 8, 2025) objected to a plea made by detained activist Sonam Wangchuk to access online, from the Jodhpur Jail in Rajasthan, the hearing of his case in the Supreme Court.

Opposing the plea made by Mr. Wangchuk’s counsel, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that, if allowed, the gesture from the Court would set an unhealthy precedent with other “convicts” seeking similar rights.

Mr. Wangchuk was neither an “accused” nor a “convict”, as he has neither been arrested nor convicted in any case, Mr. Sibal said. He was only seeking to be present in a hearing that impacted his fundamental right to personal liberty. 

Mr. Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National Security 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. The government had accused him of inciting the violence.

On October 29, the top court sought responses from the Centre and the Ladakh administration on an amended plea filed by Mr. Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo.

The amended plea by Ms. Angmo had contended that the detention order is founded upon “stale FIRs [First Information Reports], vague imputations, and speculative assertions, lacks any live or proximate connection to the purported grounds of detention and is thus devoid of any legal or factual justification”.

The Court scheduled the case for a hearing on December 15.