Kiren Rijiju Removed As Law Minister, Replaced By Arjun Ram Meghwal

Kiren Rijiju has been removed as the Union Law Minister.

Kiren Rijiju has been removed as the Union Law Minister.

Source : PTI

In a major development, Kiren Rijiju has been removed as the law minister and has now been assigned charge of the Ministry Of Earth Sciences. He has been replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal. Rashtrapati Bhawan in a statement said, "Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State 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. The portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Kiren Rijiju."

Reacting to the development, Rijiju has said the change has been made in view of the upcoming elections.

Arjun Ram Meghwal, 70 years, is a three-time MP from Bikaner and in 2019, he defeated Madan Gopal Meghwal of the Congress by a margin of 2.64 lakh votes. Meghwal is currently the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of State for Culture. 

He was also the Chief Whip of the BJP in the Lok Sabha and has been in active politics for 14 years. A former IAS officer, he came into politics with voluntary retirement. He was awarded the Best Parliamentarian Award in 2013.

Off late, Rijiju had been vocal about his opinion on the tussle between the executive and the judiciary over the procedure of appointment of the judges. He also criticised the collegium system to appoint judges on multiple occasions.

Ealier this yearm Rijiju said judges were still subject to public scrutiny despite not having to participate in elections. "People are watching you... the judgments you give, how you work... In this age of social media, you can't hide anything," he said.

Democracy will not succeed if we weaken the independence of the judiciary or reduce its authority, respect and dignity," he said. 

"There have been many changes since 1947, so it would be wrong to think that the existing system will carry on and it would never be questioned. It is the changing situation which dictates the need and this is why the Constitution had to be amended more than a hundred times," he added.

Rijiju sought to support the views of a retired high court judge who claimed that the Supreme Court "hijacked" the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself.