Sonam Wangchuk ends protest, plea in Delhi High Court withdrawn
Delhi High Court was informed on Tuesday [Apex Body Leh vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi] that they have withdrawn a plea seeking permission for Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk and other activists to protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.
This followed Wangchuk ending his latest hunger strike a day earlier after the same ministry said it would continue dialogue with Ladakh activists.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprised the Division Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Amit Sharma during the hearing of the plea moved by Apex Body Leh that since Wangchuk withdrew the protest, the petition may not survive.
‘We were prepared to file a reply to this happening yesterday late night,’ Mehta said.
Counsel for the petitioners confirmed the development.
During a hearing last week, the Court urged Delhi Police to respond to a plea filed by Apex Body Leh, a Ladakh-based organisation.
The plea had asked the Delhi government and Delhi Police to allow Wangchuk and the rest to organize a peaceful protest in Jantar Mantar.
The dates to hold the peaceful protest were from October 8 to October 23.
Protesters left Leh on September 1 to highlight ‘ecological and cultural collapse’ in Ladakh.
Inclusion of the Union Territory in Sixth Schedule of the Constitution has been their main demand.
It stipulates measures of implementation of autonomy in tribal areas for protection of rights and identity of locals under sixth Schedule. It is currently applicable only for northeast India’s Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
But Wangchuk and others were detained at Singhu Border on their way to near Delhi on Sept 30. They were later released.
They had also sought permissions to hold protest at Jantar Mantar, while they were waiting. On October 5, the Delhi Police denied the body’s request to organise the protest at Jantar Mantar.
The Body moved the High Court challenging the police decision to deny them permission to hold peaceful protest, saying the denial of permission derails their fundamental right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
“The plea says that Delhi Police could have used its discretion to allow the anshan at an alternative place instead of denying the request outright, the right guaranteed under the Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India.”
