Kiren Rijiju replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal as law minister

Meghwal's choice is seen as a move keeping upcoming Rajasthan elections in mind

In a surprise move for which there was no reason cited officially, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday moved Kiren Rijiju out of the Law Ministry and replaced him with Arjun Ram Meghwal.

While Rijiju, who was at loggerheads with the judiciary, was removed from the Ministry and given the charge of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Minister of State for Law SP Singh Baghel was also moved out of the Ministry later in the day and given Ministry of Health, according to a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Interestingly, Meghwal will handle the Ministry as a Minister of State with independent charge and not as a Cabinet rank minister. Meghwal's choice is also seen as a move keeping the year-end Rajasthan election in mind. He will also handle Culture and Parliamentary Affairs as Minister of State along with his new assignment.

A Minister of State with independent charge is a minister without an overseeing Cabinet Minister in the State or Union Government of India. He himself is in charge of his ministry, unlike the Minister of State who is also a Minister but assists a cabinet minister.

Rijiju tweeted, "it has been a privilege and an honour to serve as Union Minister of Law and Justice under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I thank Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, all judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices and Judges of High Courts, Lower Judiciary and entire Law officers for their 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 in the Earth Sciences Ministry with the same zeal and vigour I have imbibed as a humble karyakarta of BJP."

Seen as the most vocal in the government criticising the collegium system of appointment in the higher judiciary, Rijiju has found himself on the wrong side recently with his comments that some retired judges are part of an anti-India gang, which had evoked strong reactions.

Read | Kiren Rijiju's shunting from law ministry surprises Northeast, Congress calls him a failed minister

Rijiju, who will take over as Earth Sciences Minister from Jitendra Singh on Friday, was named Law Minister on July 7, 2021. Before that, he was the Minister in charge of Sports and Minority Affairs in Modi 2.0. In the first Modi government, he was Minister of State for Home.

The opposition described Rijiju as a "failed" Law Minister. Congress Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore said, "The failed law minister moves… In Earth Science what he can do? Hope Arjun Ram Meghwal acts in a dignified manner as law minister." Senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi said, "The party that claims to be the largest party on the planet is even unable to find a full-time Law Minister."

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, "is it because of the Maharashtra judgement embarrassment? Or the Modani-SEBI investigation?" BSP Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali tweeted, "On 7th February 2023 in Lok Sabha, I strongly objected to the unreasonable and dangerous criticism of the judiciary by Rijiju but the government didn’t act timely. He has been removed today. It’s quite late and he has already caused irreversible damage to the institution."

During his tenure, Rijiju criticised the Collegium system for the appointment of judges, saying nowhere in the world judges appointed themselves.

On January 6, he had written to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud suggesting including the government's representative in the process of picking up judges, triggering a massive controversy.

He had subsequently clarified that the letter had sought the inclusion of a central government's nominee in search-cum-evaluation committee, as part of the Memorandum of Procedure to be formulated in terms of the Supreme Court's judgement in the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act case.

In January, he had sounded a note of concern with the Supreme Court Collegium publishing inputs of the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) on candidates recommended for judgeship, saying it is a serious issue.

Speaking in a programme organised by the Delhi Bar Association, the Minister had in January fired a fresh salvo against the judiciary by saying judges don't face public scrutiny, they don't stand for elections but are being constantly observed by people.

"The people are watching. How you work, what you do, your judgments. People are seeing this and forming opinions. No one can hide in the time of social media," he said.

He had also tweeted a video by a retired high court judge, Justice R S Sodhi who said the Supreme Court “hijacked” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself. The Minister said he considered the former judge’s view “sane”. The Law Minister said the majority of the people have similar views.

Sharing the interview by a portal LawStreet Bharat, Rijiju then tweeted, “Voice of a judge...The real beauty of Indian Democracy is- it's a success. People rule themselves through their representatives. Elected representatives represent the interests of the people & make laws. Our Judiciary is independent and our Constitution is Supreme”.

In another tweet, the Minister had said: “Actually majority of the people have similar sane views. It's only those people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India”.

On the judicial side, a bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had severely criticised the Union government for sitting over proposals on the appointment and transfer of judges.