NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY 18
In a major Cabinet reshuffle, Arjun Ram Meghwal has replaced Kiren Rijiju as the Union and Justice Minister, a communique from President’s Secretariat said on Thursday. Rijiju has been assigned the portfolio of Ministry of Earth Sciences.
The official communique from President’s Secretariat on Thursday stated that “The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has been pleased to direct the following reallocation of portfolios among Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers.”
आज विधि एवं न्याय मंत्रालय का कार्यभार संभालने के उपरांत जैसलमेर हाउस में न्याय विभाग के वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों एवं कर्मचारियों के साथ बैठक कर मंत्रालय के कार्यों की समीक्षा की।@MLJ_GoI pic.twitter.com/tzlt0tfzwO
— Arjun Ram Meghwal (Modi Ka Parivar) (@arjunrammeghwal) May 18, 2023
“Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State was 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,” it added.
Meghwal, 70, a retired IAS officer, was the Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture in the Modi-led government.
In 2009, Meghwal was elected as the Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha from Bikaner and was re-elected in the 2014 general election for the 16th Lok Sabha. He was also appointed as the Chief Whip of the BJP. He was also nominated as the Chairman of House Committee in the lower house.
Earlier, before becoming the Law Minister, Rijiju served as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Youth Affairs and Sports from May 2019 to July 2021.
Rijiju had earlier sparked a row by criticising the collegium system of appointing judges. He had said that the system was “opaque and not transparent”.
