Delhi HC to hear today, plea on Wangchuk protest at Jantar Mantar

PTI New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will hear on Wednesday a plea that seeks to allow climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar or any other suitable location in the national capital. The plea was mentioned for an urgent hearing on Tuesday before a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela but the bench listed it on Wednesday. "Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk is housed in Delhi along with 200 padyatris. Kindly list the petition for today post lunch," the counsel, representing petitioner Apex Body Leh, submitted.

However, the bench said it will be listed on October 9 after the judges concerned go through the documents of the case. The petitioner said it initiated a peaceful protest march from Leh, Ladakh to Delhi along with Wangchuk and about 200 others. It said the march had covered over 900 km in 30 days with the objective of raising awareness about the ecological and cultural degradation of Ladakh and the broader Himalayan region. "The petitioner organisation intends to hold an awareness campaign and peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar or any other suitable location in Delhi from October 8 to 23," the plea stated. The plea further argued that the Delhi Police on October 5 had shot off a letter to the organisation while "arbitrarily rejecting the request" to hold a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar and thereby "infringing upon the petitioner's fundamental rights to speech and peaceful assembly". It sought to quash Delhi Police's letter.

Wangchuk and his associates from Ladakh were allegedly detained at the Delhi border by the local police on September 30 when they were marching towards the national capital to demand the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. They were, however, released later. The Sixth Schedule pertains to the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram as "autonomous districts and autonomous regions". The plea claimed the police have failed to provide any valid ground for rejectng the request for holding the protest.