Sonam Wangchuk's wife moves to Delhi High court over 'illegal detention'

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali Angmo has moved the Delhi High Court seeking his transfer from Safdarjung Hospital to a private hospital, claiming she has lost faith in the government-run medical facility.

Angmo has sought an urgent hearing on the petition today itself, following which the court has listed the matter to be heard at 2:30 pm today. The petition alleges that Wangchuk, who was on the 21st day of his peaceful hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, has been "illegally and unlawfully detained under the pretext of medical intervention." It seeks a writ declaring his continued confinement at Safdarjung Hospital as illegal, unconstitutional and violative of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

The plea also seeks Wangchuk's immediate release or discharge, alleging that he has been kept in isolation without access to his counsel or the doctors who had been examining him for the last 20 days.

In a post on X, Angmo said she had "lost faith" in Safdarjung Hospital, alleging discrepancies in the hospital's assessment of Wangchuk's potassium levels. She claimed hospital officials told the family his potassium had



dropped to 2.9, describing it as life-threatening, but the hospital's public health bulletin referred only to "decreasing potassium levels" without disclosing the figure.

Angmo further claimed that after nearly 10 hours and repeated requests, the family was allowed to collect Wangchuk's blood sample at around 10.30 pm, and an independent laboratory test reported his potassium level at 3.5, which she said was within the normal range.

She also alleged that despite repeated requests, the hospital had refused to discharge Wangchuk or allow him to be shifted to a private hospital of the family's choice. According to Angmo, around 30 police personnel were stationed on the hospital floor, with more than 100 deployed across the hospital, severely restricting the family's movement.

"It is not medical care. It is illegal detention," Angmo wrote, adding that if anything happened to Wangchuk, "the hospital authorities and the government must bear full responsibility."

She said she had approached the Delhi High Court seeking urgent permission to shift Wangchuk to a private hospital before his health deteriorated further.