‘Whatever medical intervention needed’: High Court to Centre on Sonam Wangchuk fast

The advocate, through the petition, sought the court’s direction to the government to provide “full proper and necessary aid” to Wangchuk to stop his “deteriorating health and life-threatening condition” and “forcefeed him”.

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 02:58 AM IST

Wangchuk has been on hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the past 19 days as part of a protest by the CJP seeking the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan over NEET-UG paper leak. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

Sonam Wangchuk has been on hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the past 19 days (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to ensure daily monitoring of the health of activist Sonam Wangchuk by government doctors, and to “intervene immediately” if required. “The life of any citizen is precious,” the court said on Thursday.

Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar since June 28 as part of the protest organised by the activist platform Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over NEET-UG question paper leak.

Advocate R K Saini had petitioned the High Court alleging that the government was treating Wangchuk like a “terrorist”, and seemed “apathetic” to the situation. The petitioner sought the court’s direction to the government to provide “full, proper and necessary aid” to Wangchuk to address his “deteriorating health and life-threatening condition”, and to “force-feed him”.

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The HC Bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia orally inquired of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Central and state governments, whether the health of the activist was being monitored, and whether any medical reports were available with the government that the court could peruse.

When Mehta said, “Sometimes some private doctors also come in and check.”

CJ Upadhyaya responded: “We would like the person (Wangchuk) to be medically checked by government doctors and intervene depending on the medical report. Depending [on Wangchuk’s medical condition], please intervene immediately. Life is precious.” Mehta said he had no objection to this.

Disposing of the petition, the court recorded in its order that the SG had “stated on instructions that the health condition of Wangchuk shall be regularly monitored on a daily basis by government doctors/ experts”.

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“He (the SG) further assures the court that depending on the opinion of doctors, whatever medical intervention is needed to check the deteriorating health condition of Wangchuk, shall also be taken. While noting the assurances given by SG we only observe that the life of any citizen is precious and all efforts ought to be made by the government (to save the same)…,” the order said.

In his PIL, the petitioner had alleged that the “government is treating (Wangchuk) like he is a hardcore criminal, terrorist, or traitor to the nation”, and that the “government seems to be (apathetic) to the situation”.

Also read | ‘Left mall job, doing course in politics’: A night at Cockroach Janta Party’s Delhi protest

The “least the government can do and is expected to do” is ensure “the affected protester is given immediate full, proper and necessary medical attention, even if forcibly, to ensure his good health and to save his life”, the petition said.

“For this purpose, the simple thing to be done…is to take him to a government hospital and force feed him the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals, by way of a liquid diet which are necessary for a human body to survive,” Saini said.

Sohini Ghosh

Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More

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