Arjun Ram Meghwal is the New Union Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju Moves to Earth Sciences Ministry

BJP leader Arjun Ram Meghwal was on Thursday appointed as the new Union law minister after Kiren Rijiju was moved to Earth Sciences Ministry. Rijiju was shunted out days after criticising the collegium system to appoint judges.

A statement from Rashtrapati said: “The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, is 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 Kiren Rijiju; (ii) 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 Kiren Rijiju.”

After taking charge, Arjun Ram Meghwal said, “Justice should be served to all and cases pending in courts should be as less as possible.”

Meghwal will now have charge of culture, parliamentary affairs as Minister of State, and independent charge of the law ministry.

Who is Arjun Singh Meghwal

Meghwal completed his graduation in law in 1977, following which he did his post-graduation. In 1982, he qualified the RAS Exams and got elected for the Rajasthan Udhyog Seva.

He got elected as the Member of Parliament for the first time in 2009, representing the Bhartiya Janata Party from Bikaner constituency. He was reelected in 2014

and was made BJP’s chief whip in Lok Sabha.

Why Was Kiren Rijiju Moved Out as Law Minister?

Reacting to the development, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that it was an “unceremonious change”. “He was continuously questioning the judiciary,” she added.

Speaking to News18, Congress leader Manickam Tagore too said that Rijiju was shunted out as the “central government now wants to avoid the confrontation” between the executive and the judiciary.

Rijiju had been quite vocal about the tussle between the executive and the judiciary over the procedure of appointment of the judges. He had criticised the collegium system to appoint judges on multiple occasions, saying it is a result of the “misadventure” of the Congress party.

Rijiju also said that judges are focusing more on their administrative duties rather than judicial ones. He claimed that because of the system, judges are appointing only those people who they know and not necessarily those who merit being appointed.

In an interview to Times Now last year, the former law minister said the collegium system is “alien” to the Indian constitution. “You tell me under which provision the collegium system has been prescribed,” he asked.

Soon after the reshuffling, Rijiju’s Twitter bio changed too.