Advocate moves Delhi High Court, seeks directions to force-feed activist Sonam Wangchuk

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 15, 2026 11:56 AM IST

Environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk on the 18th day of his indefinite hunger strike in support of the CJP campaign, seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over NEET paper leak. (ANI)

With activist Sonam Wangchuk on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar for 18 days now, a practising advocate has moved a PIL in the Delhi High Court alleging that the government is treating him like a “terrorist” and seems to be “apathetic” to the situation.

The advocate has sought the court’s direction to the government to provide “full proper and necessary aids” to Wangchuk to stop his “deteriorating health and life-threatening conditions” and “force feed him”.

The PIL, which was due to be heard on Wednesday by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, has now been posted for Thursday owing to a strike by lawyers.

No lawyers from the Delhi or Central governments appeared before the court owing to a call to lawyers to strike work by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), over an administrative decision to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of district courts in Delhi.

The bench posted the matter for hearing tomorrow, “having regard to the urgency” in the matter. The court directed the Registry to serve the order passed by the court today — that it will hear the matter tomorrow — to the Additional Solicitor General and Delhi government standing counsel on the civil side.

The petitioner, advocate R K Saini, in his PIL, claimed the “government is treating him like he is a hardcore criminal, terrorist or traitor to the nation”, adding that the “government seems to be (apathetic) to the situation”.

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

“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 has said.

He added that there are precedents from past where such steps to force feed fasting protestors has been taken.

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

In an interview with The Indian Express earlier this week, Wangchuk said the Prime Minister should be sensitive to students’ concerns, and called for the issue to be debated in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. “A resignation is merely the starting point,” he said.

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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.

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