The court observed that under the Nagaland Village Councils Act, 1978, only hereditary Gaon Buras (GBs) possess ex-officio voting rights in the Village Council; therefore, the participation of non-hereditary GBs in electing a Chairman may constitute a procedural error.

ORDER

Heard Mr. A. Zho, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. Moa Imchen, learned Senior Government Advocate for the respondent nos. 1 to 5.

2. The instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking interference with the minutes of the meeting dated 28.03.2026 conducted by the Head GB of Old Jalukie Village whereby the respondent no. 7 (private respondent) namely, Mr. Iketetlung, was chosen as Chairman of the said village for the tenure 2026-2031.

3. The primary contention of the petitioner is that such an election is to be conducted by the participation of the Village Council Members and the hereditary Gaon Buras (GBs) but in the instant case, the GBs who were not hereditary also participated in the voting, thereby, making the election process erroneous, requiring interference in this writ petition.

4. It is stated and submitted that vide notification No. PRN/REV/58/VC/2026/448 dated 11.03.2026, issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Peren, it notified that all the recognised villages in Peren district shall select new Village Council Members for 2026-2031 tenure, in accordance with the prevalent customary practices and usages. Subsequently another notification dated 13.03.2026 was issued to complete the process by 10.04.2026. The selection process for the new VCMs of Old Jalukie village was held on 26.03.2026 and 9 village council members were selected for the 3 (three) sectors being Sector A, B and C.

5. Subsequently, as per verbal information of the Head GB, a joint meeting of the newly selected VCMs and the GBs of Old Jalukie Vilage was held on 28.03.2026 which was attended by 4(four) new Village Council Members out of 9 (nine) and 5 (five) GBs out of 7 (seven) and contended that the petitioner and 4 (four) other Village council members have objected to the participation of the GBs as they were not hereditary and ex-officio members of the village council and did not have voting rights. However, the process of selection was gone ahead with and in the said process, the respondent no. 7 was elected as the Chairman of the Village council vide the said meeting dated 28.03.2026, the minutes of which has been assailed in this writ petition.

6. Before proceeding further, the provisions of Section 4 of the Nagaland Village Councils Act, 1978 may be reproduced herein below:

“ Section 4 : A village council shall consists of members chosen by Villagers in accordance with the prevailing customary practices and usages, the same being approved by the State government, provided that hereditary Village Chiefs, GBs and Angs shall be Ex-officio members of such council and shall have voting rights.”

7. Thus, it is revealed from the statutory provision that the electors have to be the Village Council members and the hereditary Village Chiefs, GBs and Angs.

8. Section 7(1) of the said Act is also reproduced herein below:-

“Section 7(1) The Village Council will choose a member as Chairman of the Council.”

9. It provides that the village council shall choose a member as Chairman of the Council.

10. The learned counsel has drawn attention to para 15 of the writ petition and the table enumerated therein. It is submitted that all the 6 GBs mentioned herein were appointed on various dates by the District Commissioner, Peren. It is submitted in this context that this clearly shows that the GBs of the concerned village were