Delhi HC seeks police stand on denial to Wangchuk’s protest at Jantar Mantar

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of Delhi police on a plea seeking permission for climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others to hold a peaceful protest at the city’s Jantar Mantar. A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma issued notice on the plea filed by Apex Body Leh to the police and the Delhi government and sought their responses.

“Let response to the petition be filed,” said the bench and posted the hearing on October 22.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who was representing Delhi Police, said there was no urgency in the matter.

The plea stated that Delhi Police had failed to provide any valid ground for denying the request for staging of the protest.

Wangchuk and his associates from Ladakh, who were allegedly detained at a Delhi border by the local police on September 30, marched to 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”.