Sonam Wangchuk’s wife tells Supreme Court she was followed by Police and IB, kept under surveillance during jail visits

Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, has alleged that Rajasthan Police and Intelligence Bureau followed her and kept her under close surveillance during her visits to meet Wangchuk at Jodhpur Jail where he is kept under preventive detention. .In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, Angmo claimed that she has been under constant surveillance in Delhi since late September.Angmo further stated that she was taken into a police vehicle immediately after arriving at the Jodhpur Airport during her visits on October 7 and October 11 to meet Wangchuk..Angmo stated that before each visit, she was asked to share her travel details and arrival time with the officers. During her meeting with Wangchuk inside the jail, she said a Deputy Commissioner of Police, identified as Mangalesh, and a woman constable sat within earshot and took notes of the conversation..“I was not allowed to go anywhere else or meet anyone in Jodhpur and was taken to the railway station even when I had a few hours to spare before boarding the train. The officers boarded the train with me and alighted at Merta Road Junction, the next stop after two hours of journey,” the affidavit said..Angmo submitted that as a citizen, she is entitled to visit Jodhpur and meet her husband without any restrictions on her movements. “No other person should have the right to be privy to my conversations with Sonam Wangchuk. These actions are violative of my rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India,” she stated.She also submitted that she has been under continuous surveillance in Delhi since September 30, the day she held a press conference at the national capital. “As soon as I step out of my accommodation in Delhi after September 30, a car and a man on a bike trail me wherever I go across Delhi,” the affidavit read..She added that such surveillance is inconsistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed to her as a citizen under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution..Wangchuk was arrested from Ladakh on September 26 and is currently under detention in a jail in Jodhpur.The arrest was made pursuant to the protests and violence that broke out in Ladakh over demands of statehood for the Union Territory.Angmo then approached the top court challenging his detention.Angmo told the Court that her husband’s preventive detention under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act was illegal.She was later allowed to visit Wangchuk.As per her plea, Wangchuk’s detention is not genuinely linked to national security or public order but intended to silence a respected environmentalist and social reformer for espousing democratic and ecological causes..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.