Delhi High Court: In a public interest litigation (PIL) expressing concern over the deteriorating health of Shri Sonam Wangchuk, who had allegedly been observing a fast at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, for approximately 17—18 days at the time of the order, seeking Court’s intervention to ensure that adequate medical attention was provided to him, the Division Bench of Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, CJ., and Tejas Karia, J., while emphasising that “life of every citizen is precious and all medical efforts ought to be made by the Government authorities to save the same”, directed regular clinical monitoring and timely medical treatment.
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Sonam Wangchuk is a prominent Indian engineer, innovator, education reformer, and environmental activist from Ladakh. He joined the ongoing protest, on 28 June 2026, at Jantar Mantar which stemmed from systemic examination irregularities surrounding national-level exams like NEET, CUET, and CBSE and multiple high-profile paper leaks, most notably involving the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, which compromised the futures of millions of students. The protesters are explicitly demanding the resignation of the Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, holding the ministry accountable for failing to secure the examination system.
The Solicitor General, on instruction of Union of India, assured that the health condition of Sonam Wangchuk would be regularly monitored on a daily basis by government doctors and medical experts; and depending upon the opinion of the doctors, whatever medical intervention/steps are needed to check his deteriorating health condition would be undertaken.
While noting the assurances given by the Solicitor General, the Court observed that “life of every citizen is precious and all medical efforts ought to be made by the Government authorities to save the same”. The Court directed that
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Sonam Wangchuk’s medical condition be monitored regularly on a daily basis, both clinically and otherwise.
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Any medical intervention considered necessary by the treating doctors should be carried out without delay.
According to press reports, Sonam Wangchuk, on 18 July 2026, was shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital for “essential medical care” on expert medical advice due to his deteriorating health condition.
[Rakesh Kumar Saini v. Union of India, W.P.(C) 9498/2026, decided on 16-7-2026]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Respondent: Mr.Tushar Mehta, S.G. with Mr. Amit Gupta, Adv. for UOI. And Mr.Sameer Vashisht, S.C.(Civil)
