Kiren Rijiju replaced as law minister, Arjun Ram Meghwal to take over

“President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has been pleased to direct the following reallocation of portfolios among Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers:-

(i) The portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju.

(ii) Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State be assigned the independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to his existing portfolios, in place of Shri Kiren Rijiju,” the statement said.

A three-time Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Rijiju, 51, took over as law minister in July 2021. He was promoted to a cabinet rank from being a junior minister with independent charge of Youth Affairs and Sports. His elevation came as a surprise for many since Rijiju, even as a law graduate, was an outsider to the legal fraternity.

With his brusque and gutsy style, Rijiju took on the judiciary on several issues from the appointment of judges and accountability to court vacations. When the judiciary had complained of a delay in the appointment of judges, Rijiju had said, “If the government is sitting on files, then don’t send the files.”

Rijiju’s criticism drew a sharp response from the Supreme Court, rekindling the debate on the collegium system of appointing judges. It was during his time as law minister that in an unprecedented move, the collegium made the objections of the government public.

In January, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud made public its reasons for reiteration of three candidates – Delhi High Court senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, Bombay High Court advocate Somasekar Sundaresan and Madras High Court advocate John Sathyan.