On July 19, 2026, a court in New Delhi said activist Sonam Wangchuk cannot leave the hospital where police took him the day before. Wangchuk had been refusing to eat for more than three weeks in protest. The judge, Justice Mini Pushkarna, said he should stay at Safdarjung Hospital for now and set the next court date for Friday, July 24, 2026. Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali Angmo, had filed a legal request — called a Public Interest Litigation, which lets people in India ask courts to step in on matters that affect the public — asking for his release and transfer to a private hospital.

Wangchuk, 59, was taken by police on July 18 from Jantar Mantar, a protest area in central New Delhi. He had been on hunger strike there since June 28 to support a protest movement called the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP. A large number of officers removed him from the site and brought him to Safdarjung Hospital.

The CJP movement started in May 2026 after India's top judge, Chief Justice Surya Kant, compared some unemployed young people to "cockroaches" during a court comment. The movement wants Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign. The protests have grown amid a scandal in India's exam system: more than 2.2 million people training to become doctors had to retake their medical entrance exam because the first test, given in May 2026, was cancelled after questions were leaked.

The judge said that doctors had only given Wangchuk fluids and supplements by mouth, and that he had agreed to this. She said his rights over his own body were not being violated. The court also said no force was used to move him to the hospital, and that authorities were right to do so because he had not chosen to go to the hospital on his own.

Angmo said on the social media platform X that the hospital would not let Wangchuk leave or move to a private facility. She said about 30 police officers were on their floor, with more than 100 throughout the hospital. Safdarjung Hospital said Wangchuk's vital signs were stable, but his blood test results were still slightly abnormal, meaning he needed ongoing treatment and constant monitoring.

Wangchuk had called the July 20 march to Parliament "India's second freedom movement." The march, organized by the CJP movement, is meant to put more pressure on the government over the exam scandal and the larger problems of youth unemployment and accountability.

The Delhi High Court had earlier said doctors should check on Wangchuk every day, but it had not ordered that he be taken to the hospital. That was decided by authorities who felt his hunger strike, now in its fourth week, needed medical attention.

The broader context here is growing tension between the Indian government and a protest movement that has attracted well-known figures like Wangchuk, whose hunger strike brought attention to the CJP cause. The court's decision keeps Wangchuk in a government hospital under state control just before the July 20 march. That raises questions about whether the government can force a protester to receive medical treatment when they have not agreed to be in a hospital. The judge said Wangchuk's rights were respected because he was only given fluids and supplements he agreed to — not more invasive treatment like forced feeding through a tube. If his health gets worse, that line may be tested.

The case also touches two sensitive issues at once: a judiciary already facing criticism because of the Chief Justice's remarks, and an exam scandal that has affected millions of students. The July 24 court hearing will be the next legal step, but the July 20 march may shape where the movement goes before the court meets again.