Kiren Rijiju divested of Law portfolio, replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal
The Hindu
President Droupadi Murmu on May 18 replaced Kiran Rijiju, who was the Minister of law, with Arjun Ram Meghwal.
President Droupadi Murmu on May 18 replaced Kiren Rijiju, who was the Minister of Law, with Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Mr. Meghwal has been assigned independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to his existing portfolios.
Mr. Rijiju has been made the Minister of Earth Sciences. The changes were incorporated following an advice by the Prime Minister, said a communique issued by Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The communique read: “The portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences be assigned to Shri Kiren Rijiju. 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.”
While the move is certainly an elevation for Mr .Meghwal, the sudden announcement is seen as a demotion for Mr. Rijiju, who is a Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh.
Mr. Rijiju had not only been very critical about the existing collegium system of appointing judges to the higher judiciary, he recently courted controversy when he claimed that a section of the retired Supreme Court judges were part of the anti-India gang.