New Delhi: In March this year, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju hit the news for statements which he made about the Indian judiciary. From hitting out at the Supreme Court Collegium to warning “those working against the country will have to pay a price”, he made observations that had retired civil servants come out against him for what they asserted was a concerted attack by the government on judicial independence.
Two months on, Rijiju was divested of the law and justice portfolio and the earth sciences ministry. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, was given independent charge of the law ministry.
A little over 22 months of his elevation to the law ministry with cabinet status in July 2021, Rijiju has seemingly seen his stocks nosedive.
It has been been a privelege and an honour to serve as Union Minister of Law & Justice under the guidance of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji. I thank honble Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, all Judges of Supreme Court, Chief Justices and Judges of High Courts, Lower… pic.twitter.com/CSCT8Pzn1q
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) May 18, 2023
When he started out in the high-profile ministry replacing Ravi Shankar Prasad, the three-time Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh had ticked all boxes to become one of the next generation BJP leaders — sports enthusiast, fluent in English, right age bracket, humility, as well as a representative from the Northeast.
Prasad was shunted out to bring fresh energy and to bring down the tug of war with the Supreme Court. Though a law graduate from Delhi University, Rijiju was not a familiar name in law circles as Arun Jaitely or even Prasad.
The move, however, seems to have backfired. Ever since Justice D.Y.Chandrachud became the CJI in November 2022, the Modi government was trying to rebuild its ties with the judiciary.
“His lack of familiarity with law circles was an asset and he can express his view candidly, but ultimately it did not help the government. He annoyed the judiciary at large,” a central BJP functionary told ThePrint.
In January, Rijiju shared an interview clip of Justice R. S. Sodhi (retired) in which the former judge of the Delhi Court alleged that the Supreme Court “hijacked” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself.
A few days later, Rijiju sharpened his attack on the judiciary. “A judge becomes a judge once, so he doesn’t have to face an election again. The public cannot scrutinise judges… That’s why I said that for judges, the public does not elect them so they cannot change them. But the people are watching you. Your judgments, the way judges function, the way in which you provide justice, the people are watching,” he said.
This was followed by his letter to the CJI suggesting inclusion of a government representative in the “search-cum-evaluation committee” that will provide inputs on “suitable candidates” to the appointment panel or the collegium.
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‘Outsider replaced by another’
The appointment of Meghwal has nothing to do with image makeover, said a former Union cabinet minister.
“He has no connection with legal circles. He was only brought to calm frayed nerves of the Supreme Court. The government knows that the next one year is crucial and that the Supreme Court under the new chief justice is unlike other chief justices. A confrontational attitude will not pay any dividend especially as several important cases are in the court. One outsider was replaced by another … Meghwal’s importance is only till the Rajasthan election,” the former minister told ThePrint.
When the Modi government took oath in 2014, its first big project was to usher in reforms in the judiciary. The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act was passed by Parliament the same year, but the Supreme Court had struck down the NJAC Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment as “unconstitutional and void” in 2015.
“There were two ministries considered as the most delicate…One of them was the law ministry due to its sensitive nature and the involvement of the Supreme Court. The other was the I&B ministry. In the Modi government’s first tenure, the PM changed from Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Rajvardhan Rathore, Smriti Irani among others to correct his government’s image. Similarly, several law ministers were changed as most of them did not serve the government’s purpose. Barring Jaitley, none had authority,” a former Cabinet minister said.
Another senior BJP leader told ThePrint that Rijiju was brought in to avoid confrontation but it did not help. “Since the former minister was known to legal circles, so a fresh face was chosen to get an unbiased view. But over the period he started taking shots at judiciary. …he can’t be blamed because he was only following what he was told to do. His role was only to pass messages and sign files. Over the years, the prime minister himself established a good rapport with legal fraternity and Rijiju was never taken seriously like (Congress law minister H. R.) Bhardwaj or even Ravi Shankar Prasad,” the BJP leader said.
Many in the BJP ranks are of the view that as the Lok Sabha election is approaching, the government needs to go for an image makeover. Hence, the reshuffling of several ministers is on cards to address regional balance and caste balance.
“Priority is to win big states and redo regional balancing ahead of assembly and Lok Sabha elections. There is no punishment in the case of Rijiju,” a BJP general secretary told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘Very upset about it’: Law minister Rijiju criticises SC order to keep sedition law in abeyance