Ethics · 18 Jul 2026

hunger strike jurisprudence Ramlila Maidan

Arrange the following events relating to the state's response to hunger strikes in India in chronological order:

  1. The Delhi High Court orders regular health monitoring of Sonam Wangchuk during his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar.
  2. The Supreme Court's In Re: Ramlila Maidan Incident judgment holds that hunger strikes are neither unconstitutional nor barred by law.
  3. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh writes to Baba Ramdev urging him to end his hunger strike.
  4. A Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Surya Kant lays down state obligations during farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal's fast.
A3, 2, 4, 1
B2, 3, 4, 1
C3, 4, 2, 1
D2, 3, 1, 4
This question is based on: Nineteen Days of Silence - What the State Owes a Citizen Who Is Starving to Be Heard
Take this in full test mode → Instructions for 18 Jul 2026
About this question

Why in news

As activist Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike at Jantar Mantar crossed nineteen days with official silence from the government, the Delhi High Court intervened on July 16, 2026 to order regular health monitoring, prompting comparisons with the government's proactive 2011 engagement with Baba Ramdev.

Why for UPSC

Sequencing questions test whether a candidate has genuinely internalised the evolution of a legal-political pattern over time, rather than treating each precedent as an isolated fact - here, tracing the shift from executive engagement to judicial substitution across fifteen years.

Prelims summary

India's hunger strike jurisprudence evolved from PM Manmohan Singh's direct 2011 engagement with Baba Ramdev, through the 2012 Ramlila Maidan judgment and the 2024 Dallewal case, to the Delhi High Court's 2026 health-monitoring order for Sonam Wangchuk.

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