New Delhi: The Union government on Monday (February 2) told the Supreme Court that Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk had urged young people to draw inspiration from youth-led movements in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka if Ladakh’s demand for Sixth Schedule status was denied.Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) on September 26, 2025, after protests for statehood turned violent.A bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice P.B. Varale continued hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitangli Angmo, challenging his detention as illegal.The petition seeks Wangchuk’s release from Jodhpur jail, with the Union government, Ladakh administration and jail superintendent as respondents. The authorities have denied illegality and said grounds were supplied on time and meetings allowed, while Angmo has alleged incomplete supply of grounds.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, argued that Wangchuk’s speeches invoked Gandhian ideas to conceal inflammatory content and that he had incited youth to adopt violent protest methods, including self-immolation. Mehta said judicial review in preventive detention cases was limited to assessing procedural compliance, not whether detention was justified.He cited safeguards under the NSA, including confirmation of detention by the state government and the right to make a representation before an advisory board headed by a former high court judge. Mehta said Wangchuk had not challenged the state confirmation order or the advisory board’s decision. He also dismissed claims that four videos relied upon in the detention order were not supplied, calling the argument an “afterthought,” Live Law reported.“When the order of detention was served upon the detenue, the service took about four hours. The DIG Ladakh goes to him, sits with him and shows each page [of the detention order], which is videographed. He shows him all the videoclip that you are satisfied and he says, yes I am satisfied…if necessary, I am ready to produce that,” Mehta said, as per Live Law.Mehta argued that detaining authorities must rely on compiled material to form subjective satisfaction and accused Wangchuk of seeking a Nepal-like youth uprising and misleading young people by invoking the Arab Spring.“…please mark this here. You are not addressing Gen-Z in isolation. You are anticipating or hoping for a riot-like situation in Nepal. It is a clear instigation otherwise, what is the relevance of Nepal and Ladakh? He is misleading the young generation to do what Nepalis did in their country…There is something very serious which mylords should see. What Mahatma Gandhi was doing was against another imperial government. Not instigating people to resort to violence against its own government. Comparison with Mahatma Gandhi is fallacious and only a facade to hide the completely inflammatory and instigatory speech,” Mehta was quoted as saying.He said Wangchuk’s comments on the presence of armed personnel aimed to distance citizens from security forces. “This is where the concern for security and public order comes for the District Magistrate…Security forces are ‘they’, and we are ‘he’. That is the distance he is trying to make between the people and the security forces of our country.”Mehta added, “Efforts, desire and his wish is to make Nepal an example for Gen-Z…You may use Mahatma Gandhi as a shield in the beginning and in the end. But ultimately, you are saying what I want is Nepal like situation, Bangladesh like situation considering the fact that this is a border state, a very sensitive border.”He also cited Wangchuk’s reference to self-immolation and the Arab Spring. “…I have no difficulty if someone wants to change government, resorting to the democratic process by contesting elections…please mark this now, this is where the problem starts. ‘I would say, this is not hard, do you all know the concept of Arab Spring?’ Mylords, a blood bath and the government of the day was thrown out… ‘Who was behind it? Not a king or a brave figure but a fruit and vegetable seller. He was fed up by the corrupt leaders and self-immolated himself in the middle of the market.’ This is what he wants Gen-Z to do. This is what was desired to be prevented by the District Magistrate,” he said. “This is an invitation to indulge in a kind of civil war with blood bath, giving an example of Arab Uprising…he is instigating impressionable youth to resort to this.”In an earlier hearing, senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, for Angmo, has argued that detention materials were not furnished, Section 5A could not be invoked to sever grounds, and authorities relied on stale FIRs and ignored a peace appeal speech. He also alleged mistranslation and lack of independent application of mind, Live Law reported.Sibal underlined that although a detention order was served on Sonam Wangchuk, after a delay of 28 days, the materials relied upon in the order, particularly four videos, were not provided. He said this denial undermined Wangchuk’s right to make an effective representation, both before the advisory board and the government. Sibal also noted that a September 24 speech in which Wangchuk appealed for peace was not placed before the detaining authority.Sibal also contended that Section 5A of NSA applies only when all grounds of detention are furnished, whereas in this case, he argued, the authorities relied on a single ground, the events of September 24, supported by a chain of materials.He submitted that the district magistrate failed to independently apply his mind while issuing the detention order, merely reproducing the senior superintendent of Police’s recommendation that Wangchuk be detained to prevent prejudice to national interest.Further, Sibal pointed out that several materials cited in the detention order, including old FIRs dating back to 2024, were irrelevant and selectively relied upon, with contrary materials omitted. He said the allegation that Wangchuk urged Ladakhis not to assist the Indian Army during wartime was false, noting that Wangchuk had clarified that politics should not be conflated with patriotism.Sibal also claimed that Wangchuk’s speeches had been deliberately mistranslated to portray him as a security threat.