Kohima: The Gauhati High Court’s Kohima Bench recently dealt with several matters concerning Nagaland, including IAS officer Reny Wilfred’s plea in a sexual harassment case, a contempt petition over time-bound pay for PWD workcharged employees and criminal proceedings arising from the 2026 Koridang Assembly bye-election.
Reny Wilfred Allowed to File Fresh Challenge
On September 29, the Kohima Bench allowed Reny Wilfred, a 2015-batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre, to withdraw his criminal revision petition and granted him liberty to file a fresh petition challenging the framing of charges against him.
The case concerns allegations of sexual and mental harassment involving women employees of the Investment and Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN). Wilfred had earlier approached the High Court seeking relief against proceedings in the case.
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His earlier revision petition, filed in May 2026, challenged proceedings including the dismissal of his discharge application and orders connected with the framing of charges. The High Court had recorded that charges were framed against him on May 20, 2026.
The High Court had previously declined, in December 2025, to quash the criminal proceedings and chargesheet against Wilfred. The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed his Special Leave Petition challenging that judgment in May 2026.
The September 29 order allows Wilfred to approach the High Court afresh on the subsequent issue concerning the framing of charges.
Koridang Bye-Election Case Quashed
The same day, the Kohima Bench quashed an FIR, chargesheet and connected criminal proceedings arising from an alleged violent incident during the 2026 Koridang Assembly constituency bye-election.
The case originated from an April 6 FIR filed by independent candidate Imchatoba Imchen. The complaint alleged that supporters of BJP candidate Daochir I Imchen and members of Mangmetong Village Council were involved in attacks in which vehicles were damaged, houses were vandalised and two people were assaulted.
A chargesheet was subsequently filed under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The parties later reached a settlement through resolutions passed at Mangmetong Village Council meetings on May 31 and July 3. The matter was subsequently brought before the High Court for relief.
The Court noted that the allegations against the petitioners did not attribute specific overt acts to them and were substantially general in nature. It also noted the absence of material indicating continuing threats or interference with the electoral process.
The Court clarified that it was not compounding the alleged offences. Instead, it exercised its inherent jurisdiction under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to secure the ends of justice and prevent abuse of the court process, and accordingly quashed the proceedings insofar as they concerned the petitioners.
PWD Pay Contempt Petition Closed
On October 1, the High Court also closed a contempt petition filed by the All Nagaland PWD Field Workers Association (ANPWDFWA) concerning the grant of Time-Bound Scale of Pay to eligible workcharged employees.
The association had approached the Court alleging non-compliance with its March 23, 2023 direction to consider the grant of the benefit within eight months. The original proceedings concerned eligible PWD field workers seeking the time-bound pay benefit under the applicable Nagaland service rules.
During the contempt proceedings, the State informed the Court that the earlier direction had been complied with. An expenditure sanction of ₹41,43,894 was issued on June 3, 2026, towards payment of last-drawn time-bound arrears to workcharged employees for 2025-26.
The payment process had faced a delay after an incorrect IFSC code caused the Drawal Authority to lapse. The error was subsequently corrected and a fresh Drawal Authority was issued on September 8.
Justice Nchumbemo Mozhui closed the contempt petition after observing that the records showed compliance with the Court’s directions.
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