PM’s vision, not punishment: Kiren Rijiju on removal as Union Law Minister

A day after being removed from the position of Union Law Minister during the cabinet shuffle, Kiren Rijiju on Friday referred to the procedure as a “routine process”.

He also highlighted that it is a part of the prime minister’s vision and not a punishment for him. “This shifting is a routine process. It’s the Prime Minister’s vision. Somebody has to take the responsibility. There hasn’t been any mistake. It’s the opposition’s duty to speak against me, let them speak,” Rijiju said, adding it is not a day to speak politics.

Rijiju was speaking to the media after he took charge as the Minister of Earth Sciences on Friday at 11 am at the Prithvi Bhavan on Lodhi Road in the national capital.

Just a year ahead of the general Lok Sabha elections, Kiren Rijiju was abruptly replaced as Union Law Minister by Arjun Ram Meghwal in the cabinet shuffle on Thursday.

The minister was elevated to the law ministry with cabinet status last year, a post which he took charge of as one of the government’s most high-profile ministers.

Despite being considered a trusted lieutenant of the centre-ruling BJP, Rijiju was transferred to the relatively low-key Ministry of Earth Sciences in the cabinet shuffle this year.

Rijiju, as the Law Minister, time and again made statements against the Judiciary, and criticised the collegium system of appointment. His statements had frequently created a tussle between the Judiciary and the executive over the appointment of judges.

Even though he himself clarified that there is no judiciary versus government tussle in the country, his statements have seemed to suggest otherwise.

In 2021, while addressing the Lok Sabha, Kiren Rijiju said that the Centre cannot blindly accept the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium for appointments to the higher judiciary. In September last year, he spoke about the need to rethink the collegium system at an event.

Later in October, he again called the collegium system opaque. He claimed that judges are often preoccupied with deciding who will be the next judge, and resultantly, the primary job of delivering justice suffers.

“I know that the people of the country are not happy with the collegium system of appointment of judges. If we follow the spirit of the Constitution, appointment of judges is the job of the government,” the Law Minister said.