Arjun Meghwal replaces Kiren Rijju as Law Minister in fresh cabinet reshuffle

Kiren Rijju was replaced as Union Law Minister on Thursday. In the fresh cabinet reshuffle, Arjun Ram Meghwal was allotted the independent charge of Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice, besides his present portfolios.This is really astonishing that a Law Minister will be without cabinet rank.

However, Rijiju has been assigned the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

The track record of Mr Rijiju is clean, so he was known as one of the most high profile ministers and a troubleshooter in the Modi cabinet.

After his removal, the outgoing Rijiju posted a note and thanked the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, and all judges.

A new Law Minister has come at a time when the government and the Supreme Court are not on the same page as far as judges appointments are concerned.

However, Mr Rijiju’s term as a Law Minister was not free from controversy because of frequent run-ins between the government and the judiciary and his critical viewpoint on the Supreme Court over the collegium system of judges appointing judges.

A two-judge Supreme Court bench had expressed their displeasure with the delay in judge appointments and transfers in February, considering it a very severe matter and issuing a warning of “administrative and judicial actions that didn’t look sound”.

Mr Rijiju rejected the warning and made it clear that the country would be governed as per the Constitution. “Sometimes discussion takes place in the country on different issues, and in a democratic setting, everybody has the right to give their opinion. But those who are sitting in a high profile place should think before speaking anything, whether it would be beneficial for the nation or not,” he went on to say at a function, emphasising that “nobody has the right to issue a warning to anyone