Kiren Rijiju Replaced By Arjun Ram Meghwal As Law Minister, Shifted To Earth Sciences Ministry

Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State, will replace Kiren Rijiju as Minister with Independent Charge of the Law Ministry.

NEW DELHI: In a major reshuffle of the Union Cabinet, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has now been shifted to the Earth Sciences Ministry. Rijiju has been replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal as the New Law and Justice Minister with independent charge. Meghwal will also continue with his existing portfolios. Meghwal is currently the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of State for Culture.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, till now, was holding the charge of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Shortly after the announcement, Kiren Rijiju changed his Twitter bio.

The sudden change in the Union Cabinet was announced by a statement from the President's House that read: “The President of India, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been 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 Shri Kiren Rijiju. (ii)  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.”

Rijiju took over as the Law and Justice Minister on July 8, 2021. As the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Rijiju was responsible for the administration of justice in India. He was also responsible for the drafting of legislation and the administration of the legal system. Rijiju has been extremely critical of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

Known to be one of the Narendra Modi government's most high-profile ministers and a troubleshooter, Rijiju's shifting to the low-key Ministry of Earth Sciences comes less than a year after he was promoted to the Law Ministry with cabinet status.

He previously served as the Minister of State for Home Affairs (India) from 2014 to 2019 and the Minister of State for Minority Affairs from 2019 to 2021 and the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports from 2019 to 2021.