Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike enters Day 18
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court said it will hear on Thursday, July 16, 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 (CJP) has been holding the 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.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janata Party has announced a one-day mass hunger strike on July 16 in solidarity with Wangchuk, who continued his indefinite fast despite concerns over his deteriorating health.
In a post on X, the CJP urged supporters to join the protest, calling it a show of solidarity with Wangchuk and students across the country.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday extended her support to the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) movement in Delhi and enquired about the physical condition of social activist Sonam Wangchuk over the phone.
She also expressed solidarity with the movement seeking justice for students.
Welcoming the Trinamool leader’s support, Abhijeet Dipke, founder of CJP, expressed his gratitude on social media.
He said that Banerjee spoke to Wangchuk to enquire about his health and urged him to stay strong. Dipke added that she extended her solidarity to CJP’s movement seeking justice for students and thanked her for her concern and support.
The CJP started a movement at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 20 demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy. Wangchuk was with the movement from the beginning.
He later announced that if the central government did not take any positive action by June 27, he would sit on a hunger strike. The social activist from Ladakh began his fast on June 28 after receiving no response from the Centre.
Following his deteriorating health, appeals have been made from various quarters for Wangchuk to break his indefinite fast.
He has been fasting in central Delhi in solidarity with Dipke, who is staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar demanding that Pradhan step down over the leaks in May that affected lakhs of students.
On Tuesday, they received support from Banerjee, who had sat on a 26-day hunger strike during the Singur anti-land acquisition movement in 2008.
(With inputs from agencies)
This post was last modified on July 15, 2026 3:28 pm