Delhi HC: Wangchuk's Hospitalisation Not Arbitrary; Wife Sets Fast-End Condition
The Delhi High Court on Sunday ruled that the government's decision to move climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar to Safdarjung Hospital was not arbitrary. The court also directed Wangchuk to cooperate with doctors attending to him, while refusing to grant interim relief to his wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, who had sought his immediate discharge for transfer to a private hospital.
Justice Mini Pushkarna, after a nearly 40-minute hearing, observed that there was no violation of Wangchuk's bodily autonomy as only oral interventions had been administered without his consent, deemed necessary due to his deteriorating health.
Following the court order, Angmo addressed protesters at Jantar Mantar in the evening, stating that Wangchuk would break his fast on Monday if political leaders assured him that the issue of accountability in education would be raised in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. "If the MPs and leaders come to meet him tomorrow morning at Safdarjung hospital, and promise him that they would raise the issue of education and accountability in Parliament, only then will he break his fast tomorrow," she said.
Wangchuk began an indefinite hunger strike on June 28 as part of a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the leak of the NEET-UG question paper on May 3. Police removed him from the protest site on Saturday, the 21st day of his fast, invoking a High Court order and citing expert medical advice due to his declining health.
During the hearing, Dr Akshay Kumar from AIIMS, part of the Safdarjung medical team, informed the court that Wangchuk required vitamins such as thymine but could not receive them intravenously as he was refusing IV access. The court recorded that Wangchuk "will cooperate with doctors in administering any medical intervention as doctors feel."
The court refused Wangchuk's request for transfer to Medanta hospital but ordered Safdarjung to share his medical records with his family. Angmo had alleged that the hospital was not providing detailed reports of her husband's tests. The court noted that Wangchuk was not in detention and was a free citizen, but the government was within its rights to act given his failure to voluntarily seek hospitalisation despite his deteriorating condition.
Angmo, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, told the court that the family would take Wangchuk's "discharge against medical advice."
