Sonam Wangchuk hunger strike: Delhi HC agrees to hear wife Gitanjali Angmo’s plea challenging order to retain him in Safdarjung Hospital
The Delhi High Court on Monday (July 20, 2026) agreed to hear activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo’s, plea challenging the Court’s refusal to
The Delhi High Court on Monday (July 20, 2026) agreed to hear activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo’s, plea challenging the Court’s refusal to order his transfer from Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. The Court is scheduled to hear the plea at at 2.30 p.m. on Monday (July 20, 2026). Angmo contended that the single judge's Sunday (July 19, 2026) order illegally confines Mr. Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital without any arrest and effectively directs that neither the activist nor his wife has decisive authority in determining his medical treatment. The appeal said that the order does not address "informed consent" or one's right to accept or reject any medical treatment.
In a special Sunday (July 19, 2026) hearing, Justice Mini Pushkarna had refused to interfere with Mr. Wangchuk's treatment at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, stating that the government's removal of the fasting activist from Jantar Mantar to a government hospital cannot be called arbitrary. The single Judge had opined that no interim order to immediately transfer the activist was required at this stage. The observation came on a petition filed by Angmo seeking permission to shift him to a private facility. The order said Safdarjung doctors were closely monitoring the activist, and it could not be said that any force was being used against him in violation of his bodily integrity.
Taking note of the high court's July 16 order directing the authorities to monitor Mr. Wangchuk's health and medically intervene if necessary, Justice Pushkarna observed that since Mr. Wangchuk did not check himself into any hospital facility, the government was "within its right" to take him to Safdarjung in view of his medical condition. "It is to be noted that the ultimate decision with regard to the medical condition of Mr. Wangchuk would be monitored by the medical team attending him, which shall take decision as per the medical protocol," the single judge had added. Angmo had sought an urgent hearing on her petition on Sunday (July 19, 2026).
On Saturday (July 18, 2026), Mr. Wangchuk was taken forcibly to Safdarjung Hospital by the Delhi Police on the 21st day of his hunger strike. Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike since June 28 over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations and the deaths of several students linked to cancellation of the NEET paper earlier. (With inputs from PTI)
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