HC declines interim relief to Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, says activist’s hospitalisation not arbitrary

The Delhi High Court on Sunday refused to grant interim relief to Gitanjali J Angmo, activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, who had sought permission to shift him from the government-run Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, The Hindu reported.

The court noted that Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike for 17 days, and remarked that his health condition is “perilous”. It said that the decision to shift him to a hospital was taken based on his health, and was not an “arbitrary” one, according to Bar and Bench.

Angmo, while seeking that Wangchuk be shifted from the Safdarjung Hospital, had said that she had “lost faith” in the institute.

In a social media post on Sunday, Angmo alleged that the hospital had told her that Wangchuk’s potassium level had dropped to 2.9 and described it as “life-threatening”.

However, the hospital’s public health bulletin omitted the figure and referred only to “decreasing potassium levels”, she added.

She claimed that an independent laboratory test conducted later found his potassium level to be 3.5, within the normal range.

Angmo also said that the hospital had repeatedly refused to discharge Wangchuk or allow his transfer to a private hospital of the family’s choice.

“With around 30 police personnel stationed on our floor and well over 100 across the hospital, our movement is severely restricted,” she said.

She added that this...

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