The Delhi High Court on Wednesday listed a petition seeking directions to hospitalize and force-feed activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike for 17 days, for hearing on Thursday. It requested the presence of legal officials from the Union and Delhi governments for the hearing.
The Wangchuk strike is part of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the examination system.
The court noted the urgency of the matter while coming up for hearing. “Heard the petitioner who appeared in person. Keeping in view the urgency, put forward the list/offer tomorrow [Thursday]. Let a copy of this order be submitted to the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and Standing Counsel representing the Delhi (Civil) Government,” a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said.
Lawyer Rakesh Kumar Saini conveyed to the court saying that Wangchuk’s health had deteriorated significantly and he had lost 8.5 kg of weight. He said that his life may be in danger during the next two days if the fasting continues. “If he dies, it will be a great shame for the country and the world,” Saini’s plea said.
The petition said that no government official had reached out to the protesters over the past 20 days to discuss their demands, and that Wangchuk had been on hunger strike since June 28. The petition claimed that the government was treating him “as a hardened criminal, terrorist, or traitor to the nation” and showed a lack of compassion.
Opposition leaders and more than 1,800 civil society members, including academics, artists and activists such as Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Arundhati Roy, Nivedita Menon, Jean Drez, Lalita Ramdas and Kavita Srivastava, wrote a letter on Tuesday, urging Wangchuk to end his hunger strike.
“His life is invaluable to the entire world as it embodies a commitment to humanity and the environment that is as profound as his commitment to democracy,” Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X.
The RJD has been protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi since June 20. This protest emerged amid the controversy surrounding statements attributed to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a hearing regarding granting the title of “senior” to lawyers. The ICJ allegedly referred to “youth” as “cockroaches” and “parasites.” He later explained that he had been misquoted and that the statements were directed at individuals entering the legal profession “with fictitious and fraudulent degrees.”
