Rijiju makes his exit... ends his frequent run-ins with judiciary

Kiren Rijiju’s unceremonious exit from the prestigious Law Ministry came amidst his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.

Some of the highly controversial remarks the three-term Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh made, are slamming the collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary as “alien” to the Constitution and even accusing a few retired judges of being part of the “anti-India gang”.

The 51-year-old Rijiju was elevated to the Cabinet rank as Law Minister in 2021.

A prominent face from the northeast in the Modi government, Rijiju courted controversy by terming the system of appointments as an “uncle-judge syndrome” and expressed strong displeasure over the Supreme Court collegium making public Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing reports in connection with judicial appointments.

Rijiju rubbed the opposition the wrong way by stating that there was a regulated effort to undermine the Indian judiciary and turn it against the government, in a purported dig at opposition parties.

While the apex court has been hearing pleas on legalising same-sex marriages, Rijiju had asserted that the issue related to the institution of marriage should be decided by Parliament and not courts. It was in November last year that he drew the ire of the apex court for his outburst over the “delay” in appointments to the judiciary.

He went on to threaten the apex court by saying that the government is not to be blamed for sitting on files. He dared the judiciary not to send files to the government if it is not confident about the government, but rather try to decide for itself instead.

The apex court had perceived that the delay in clearing appointments to the higher judiciary was because of its striking down of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

At a public function, he had said that, unlike politicians, judges do not have to face elections repeatedly.

Whether it was his repeated vocal criticisms or remarks against the judiciary in recent times, or his comments on sensitive issues under consideration of the judiciary, Rijiju managed to draw attention, though on most occasions for the wrong reasons.

Coincidentally, Rijiju had succeeded Ravi Shankar Prasad as Law Minister. His predecessor too had spoken against the collegium system but was not as vocal as Rijiju, nor repetitive.

Bureaucrat-turned-politician Arjun Ram Meghwal, the new law minister, is a low-profile, non-controversial threeterm Lok Sabha member from Bikaner, Rajasthan, and is considered a fresh face with no tags attached in the Law Ministry.

Under persistent opposition salvo for the Adani scam, the Bilkis case being reopened by the judiciary, and recent poll debacles in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, the Modi government is becoming overly cautious in its comments, image, and actions before the acid test of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the several state assembly elections lined up for this year.

Rijiju’s exit could be such an attempt at an image make-over, or to salvage the government’s image in the public eye.