Delhi HC to hear on Thursday PIL over Sonam Wangchuk's deteriorating health

New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) The Delhi High Court said it will hear on Thursday a public interest litigation raising concern over the health of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar here. The Cockroach Janta Party has been holding a protest for over 25 days demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. Wangchuk joined the agitation on June 28 and has been on an indefinite fast since then. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia on Wednesday deferred hearing on the PIL after noting that none appeared for the authorities amid the ongoing work abstention called by the high court's bar association. "Having regard to urgency, list tomorrow," the bench said. The court ordered that a copy of the order be served to the Additional Solicitor General concerned and the Delhi government counsel. Petitioner Rakesh Kumar Saini said the situation was "sad" and "most unfortunate" as a protesting citizen was "virtually taking his life in front of the whole nation". In his PIL, Saini sought direction to the authorities to come to Wangchuk's aid and "discuss the issue" with him. It also sought a direction to force-feed the activist. The PIL asserted that although the government does not seem to be concerned, the court would not allow the state to let a citizen "voluntarily die of hunger". If Wangchuk loses his life, it would be a matter of great shame for the country, and the least the government is expected to do is give him immediate medical attention to save his life, it added. The plea further said that holding a peaceful protest was a fundamental and democratic right of a citizen and the government's failure to act in the present situation would virtually amount to commission of offence of abetment of suicide. "Wangchuk is on a hunger strike since 28.06.2026, i.e. for the last 17 days but it seems that 'government ke kaan pe joo bhi nahi rengi hai' and it does not seem to be at all concerned with or affected by this most undesirable, unacceptable situation/ position which is most condemnable, so much so that one concerned citizen has commented that the conscience of the nation seems to be dead, but the petitioner is sure that the conscience of the courts is not dead and therefore approaching this court for remedial action in the matter immediately," stated the PIL. PTI ADS ZMN