LehJammu: Education reformist and HIAL founding director Sonam Wangchuk Saturday cited administrative delays in execution of the lease deed for land allotted to his institute in Leh, sharing an official communication from the Ladakh administration dated February 19, 2021, to support his claim.
The climate activist also said he had repeatedly approached the authorities for timely execution of the lease deed, claiming that five written appeals, 15 visits and 30 phone calls had been made in this regard.
Wangchuk’s statement comes after the Ladakh administration defended its decision to cancel the land allotment to the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), citing the activist’s disregard for the law and stating that the allotment had automatically lapsed due to unpaid dues and failure to execute the lease deed.
In an affidavit filed in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently, the administration maintained that the 40-year lease allotment covering 1,076 kanals and 1 marla of land at Phyang Thang had lapsed by operation of law May 5, 2019, due to HIAL’s failure to execute a lease deed or deposit mandatory land premiums within the stipulated one-year period.
The affidavit, running into 136 pages, was filed by Leh Deputy Commissioner and CEO of LAHDC, Romil Singh Donk, in response to HIAL’s writ petition challenging the August 21, 2025, cancellation order of leased land to the institute.
Whenever I raise my voice about injustices in Ladakh, the government media machinery gets activated to target me and our institute HIAL’s land lease. Please take the message, don’t kill the messenger, Wangchuk said in a post on Facebook, sharing a letter issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, stating that the land deed was under process as the administration was awaiting finalisation of a new lease policy following formation of the Union Territory of Ladakh and the COVID-19 pandemic.
…in the wake of the formation of the new UT and the pandemic, the execution of the lease deed is under process as we are awaiting the New Lease Policy to be finalised. This delay is across board for all institutions, including several government institutions, however you may continue the construction activities of your institution on the allotted land, the letter reads.
A quick look at this letter shows their own delays, if not incompetence. In all, five written appeals, 15 visits and 30 calls were made appealing for timely execution of land lease, Wangchuk said in his social media post.
The affidavit said the writ petition filed by HIAL in the court is misconceived, devoid of merit, and barred by delay and laches and made it clear that the original allotment order issued May 5, 2018, was conditional and explicitly stated that the lease would be deemed cancelled if the allottee failed to execute the deed within a year.
Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo, HIAL co-founder, claimed that everything in the affidavit is a lie, just as the NSA claim against Wangchuk was a lie.
Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) following violence in Leh during protests in support of statehood and extension of the sixth schedule of the Constitution to Ladakh in September 2025, but was released in March 2026 after the Centre revoked the order.
In the court, they (administration) said they wanted to change the facts and refile the affidavit. Maybe they realised they would be caught again. Everything is a lie, Angmo said. They are so incapable that they do not even have a lease policy in place.
She said everyone in Ladakh has known Wangchuk’s contribution since 2007. We do not depend on the administration or the so-called lieutenant governors who come and go every six months. In the last five years, we have had four L-Gs and six deputy commissioners (in Leh). They have no stake in the place apart from exploiting it.
Angmo alleged that the administration wanted to clear the plot by spreading lies and creating a false narrative, as they have been doing in every case. Then, when they are exposed, they scoot.
Countering charges on circulation of provocative VCDs by his organisation, the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), and unauthorised occupation of 200 kanals of land under the guise of educational programmes, Wangchuk said this was part of a campaign to malign his name because we are reminding the government of promises made to people of Ladakh. They are digging up matters that were settled long ago.
In 2007, there was similar high-handedness. They tried everything to put me in jail, but they could not. There are several letters from the erstwhile deputy commissioner alleging I had disturbed peace. As in this case, there was a national and global outcry in 2007 as well. Finally, President A P J Abdul Kalam intervened, and the deputy commissioner was removed prematurely.
That is answer enough to show that we were on the right path and were fighting misuse of power. Now, in the school’s case as well, they are raising issues of the lease and other matters. Because we take political stands and raise issues, they are trying to derail the allotment of the school ground, he said.
We would rather die than submit to such high-handedness. We did not submit to it during the previous regime, and we won’t submit to it under the current regime, he asserted.
Cases were filed against me back then; the affidavit mentions all those matters. The court acquitted me. How can they bring them up again when the court has already given its verdict Wangchuk said.
