Kiren Rijiju stripped of Law and Justice ministry
First Published: 18th May, 2023 10:38 IST
Arjun Ram Meghawal elevated as the new Law and Justice minister. Rijiju is the Union Minister for Earth Sciences
In a major reshuffle in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, Kiren Rijiju has been divested of his plum Law and Justice ministry and given the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a Rashtrapati Bhawan press communique said today.
Rijiju has been replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal who has been given the Independent Charge as Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to his existing portfolio of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture.
The press communique from the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President House) dated May 18, 2023, read, “The 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 sudden development is being seen as a fallout of the tussle over the SC collegium system. Rijiju had said the collegium system of appointing judges was ‘opaque and not transparent’.
Rijiju took over as the law and justice minister on July 8, 2021. The 52 year old BJP politician has been representing the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency since 2014 and from 2004-09. He has served as the Minister of State for Home Affairs (2014-19) and Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sport from 2019-21.
Soon after the change, Rijiju changed his Twitter bio to Minister, Earth Sciences, India.
In another tweet, the Union Minister thanked and expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and the entire judiciary including law officers for giving him an opportunity to serve the citizens by delivering ease of justice and legal services.
“It has been been a privelege and an honour to serve as Union Minister of Law & Justice under the guidance of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji. I thank honble 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 Hon’ble PM Sh @narendramodi ji in the Earth Sciences Ministry with the same zeal and vigour I have imbibed as a humble karyakarta of @BJP4India,” Rijiju said in the tweet.
The sudden change in portfolio and the move to shunt Rijiju out of the Law Ministry is being seen as a demotion for the Arunachal MP and elevation for Meghwal who has earlier served as Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (2019-21) and Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and Minister of State for Water Resources, the positions that he held simultaneously during 2016-17.
Meghwal, 70, has been representing the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat of Rajasthan since 2009.
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