HC grants bail to two former Congress leaders arrested in September 24 Leh violence case, says bail is a rule

SRINAGAR: A large crowd gathered outside the district jail in Leh on Saturday to welcome the release of former Congress councillor Smanla Dorje Nurboo (36) and former Congress J&K MLA Deldan Namgail (47) after the Jammu and Kashmir high court granted them bail.

Police had arrested Namgail on Sept 26, 2025, and Nurboo a day later, following a violent protest in Leh on Sept 24 that left four people dead and about 80 others injured in police firing against demonstrators demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. Police had accused the two of instigating the violence and being present at the scene but both denied the charges. With their release, all those arrested in the Sept 24 violence have been freed on bail.

Police said 38 police personnel and 57 CRPF personnel were also injured in the violence. The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), two influential political and religious groupings in Leh and Kargil, had been demanding their release. LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjee, who was also outside the jail and greeted the two, said they are happy that the two were released after being kept in jail for nothing for such a long time.

The HC on Thursday granted bail to the accused citing a Supreme Court ruling that the power to grant bail must be exercised compassionately. “Heinousness of crime by itself cannot be the ground to outrightly deny the benefit of bail if there are other overwhelming circumstances justifying grant of bail,” the HC had said, adding the state’s concerns could be addressed by imposing reasonable conditions. The court also observed that “in case of non-bailable offences which do not carry a sentence of death or imprisonment for life in alternative, bail is a rule”.

The court directed the accused to furnish bonds of Rs 1 lakh each to the satisfaction of the trial court and the jail superintendent. It imposed several conditions, including that the petitioners should cooperate with the investigating agency, attend trial proceedings unless exempted, refrain from influencing witnesses, not commit any further offences, and not leave India without prior permission of the trial court and investigating officer.

In his application, Nurboo said he was at a hospital on Sept 24 attending to people on a hunger strike who had fallen ill and was not present near the site of the incident. Environmentalist and LAB member Sonam Wangchuk had given a hunger-strike call to press the Centre to give Ladakh Sixth Schedule status. Hecalled it off after the Sept 24 violence.

Namgail, in his application, however, said people in the region had been raising their demands within the framework of the Constitution and that peaceful protest was a fundamental right. His application said that “demands made by the people were absolutely patriotic in their reach as also in their manifestations”. However, he said, he was implicated in the case, adding that he believes in non-violence.

The state had opposed bail, saying both men were influential political figures who could misuse their positions. It alleged that Nurboo and Namgail were present at site, were “active participants” in the violence and were “key players.”

Ladakh was carved out of J&K and made a Union Territory on Oct 31, 2019, following reorganisation of the former state. The region comprises Muslim-majority Kargil and predominantly Buddhist Leh.

Both districts are governed by elected autonomous councils handling local administration, while overall governance rests with the LG, appointed by the Centre, without a legislative assembly — a structure that has driven demands for full statehood and constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.