Kiren Rijiju was on Thursday replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal as the Union minister for law and justice. The three-time Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh has been assigned charge of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
A statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said: “The portfolio of (the) Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju.”
Meghwal was the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs since 2017 & Culture since 2021.
Rijiju served as the law minister from July 8, 2021 till Thursday, when he was reassigned to the ministry of Earth Sciences. Prior to this, he served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Youth Affairs and Sports from May 2019 to July 2021.
During his tenure as the law minister, often there was a tussle between the Central government and the Supreme Court which began with the appointment of judges through the Collegium system. The collegium, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and comprising other senior judges, recommends judges to be appointed to various high courts and elevated to the SC, which are confirmed by the central government.
On November 4, 2022, Rijiju commented that the collegium system of appointing judges is “opaque” and “not accountable” and added that he had to work with the present system until the government came up with an alternative mechanism. In January this year, he wrote a letter to CJI DY Chandrachud suggesting the inclusion of a government nominee in the decision-making process for shortlisting of judges.
Kiren Rijiju thanks CJI, judges
In a post on Twitter, Kiren Rijiju said it has been been a privelege and an honour to serve as Union Minister of Law & Justice under the guidance of PM Modi.
He thanked the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, all Judges of Supreme Court, Chief Justices and Judges of High Courts, Lower Judiciary & entire Law officers for the "huge support" in ensuring delivering ease of Justice and providing legal services for our citizens.
"I look forward to fulfilling the vision of PM Modi ji in the Earth Sciences Ministry with the same zeal and vigour I have imbibed as a humble karyakarta of BJP," he added.
About Arjun Ram Meghwal & Kiren Rijiju
Arjun Ram Meghwal earlier served as the Minister of State for Culture of India. In the earlier Modi government, the BJP leader Meghwal was the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 representing the Bikaner constituency, Rajasthan. He was awarded the Best Parliamentarian in 2013.
Kiren Rijiju was elected in 2019 by highest ever record margin and was later given charge as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth & Sports. He also was Minister of State for Ministry of Minority Affairs. He was inducted into Modi Cabinet 2.0 in July, 2021 overhaul as Minister of Law and Justice.
