In a strong and detailed representation to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, the Nagaland Bar Association (NBA) has raised red flags over the Rules for the Administration of Justice and Police in Nagaland (Fifth Amendment), Rules 2025.
The Bar has urged the State Government to keep the Amendment in abeyance and revisit its provisions, citing a possible dilution of Naga customary laws and practices.
The Amendment introduces significant changes to Chapter IVA, proposing a formal three-tier structure for “Customary Courts”, comprising Village Courts, Subordinate District Customary Courts, and District Customary Courts. The NBA contends that these structures, as envisaged in the Amendment, are alien to Naga customs and have no roots in the traditional adjudicatory systems followed by various tribes in the State.
In the representation jointly signed by NBA Secretary S. Keyho and President A. Zhimomi, the Bar expressed concern that these new institutions are statutory in nature and would be manned by government appointees, thus distancing them from community-based traditional dispute resolution mechanisms.
“The Village Councils have been constituted according to customary practices and usages. There is no role of the Government in the constitution of the Village Council except for its formal recognition. The constitution of the Village Court and the removal of its members by the Government is against customary laws and usages,” it stated.
It further stated that Naga customs and usages do not envisage the creation of statutory Village Courts or District-level Customary Courts. The current system, which flows from Village Councils to Dobashis and then to administrative officers and the judiciary, already ensures customary justice, the NBA said.
The Bar further highlighted that giving these proposed courts the authority to follow the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, undermines traditional Naga jurisprudence.
The NBA also stated that the Amendment Rules empower the “Customary Courts” to exercise authority in the manner they choose.
“By the use of the nomenclature ‘Customary Courts’, a class of statutory courts has been created. The said Courts are to be manned by appointees of the Government,” it said.
The NBA also noted that the Amendment runs contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers. “The Amendment Rules, in the notes appended therein, state that the amendment has been necessitated ‘in order to safeguard the separation of powers’. The doctrine of the separation of powers envisages a Judiciary separate from the Executive. The Amendment of 2025 is a step backward, from the separation of the Judiciary from the Executive, already in place in the State,” it stated.
According to the NBA, the stated objective of the Amendment—to protect Naga customs—stands in contradiction to the very content of the rules, which impose a uniform, statutory framework over diverse tribal customs.
The Executive Committee of the NBA had deliberated on the issue in its meeting on May 16, 2025, and concluded that the provisions could lead to the erosion of indigenous judicial autonomy.
The Bar has, therefore, urged the Government not to enforce the Amendment in its current form and to revisit its provisions, “so that the objective of protecting Naga customs and usages is actually achieved”.
“Naga customary laws and usages should not be whittled down and/or lost by creating statutory courts with the nomenclature ‘Customary Courts’,” it stated.
Also Read: Unequal Ground: Why Nagaland is rising for equality and transparency