Minister of Law and Justice

Cabinet position in the government of India

Minister of Law and Justice

विधि और न्याय मंत्री
Vidhi Aur Nyāya Mantrī

Emblem of the Ministry of Law and Justice

Incumbent
Arjun Ram Meghwal,
Minister of State (Independent Charge)
since 18 May 2023 (2023-05-18)

Ministry of Law and Justice
Member of| Cabinet of India
Reports to| Prime Minister of India
Parliament of India
Appointer| President of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation| 15 August 1947 (1947-08-15)
First holder| B. R. Ambedkar
Deputy| Minister of State for Law and Justice
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The Minister of Law and Justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India. The first Law and Justice Minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in first Nehru ministry during 1947–52. On 18 May 2023, Arjun Ram Meghwal replaced Kiren Rijiju and became the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Law and Justice.[1][2]

## Titles[edit]

Ever since the ministry's creation in 1947, the ministry had undergone several changes and adopted various name. The present form of "Ministry of Law and Justice" was adopted in July 2002 after the Department of Company Affairs of the erstwhile Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs was separated and made an independent ministry which was later known as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

* 15 August 1947 – 18 March 1971: Minister of Law
* 18 March 1971 – 5 February 1973: Minister of Law and Justice
* 5 February 1973 – 31 October 1984: Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
* 4 November 1984 – 21 June 1991: Minister of Law and Justice
* 21 June 1991 – 1 July 2002: Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
* 1 July 2002 – present: Minister of Law and Justice

## Cabinet Ministers[edit]

* Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)

Portrait  | Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency | Term of office  | Political party  | Ministry  | Prime Minister

|
|
|
|
|

From  | To  | Period
Minister of Law
|  | B. R. Ambedkar
(1891–1956)
MP for Bombay | 15 August
1947  | 11 October
1951  | 4 years, 57 days  | Scheduled Castes Federation | Nehru I | Jawaharlal Nehru
|  | Kailash Nath Katju
(1887–1968)
MP for United Provinces | 5 November
1951  | 13 May
1952  | 190 days  | Indian National Congress
|  | Charu Chandra Biswas
(1888–1960)
MP for West Bengal (Rajya Sabha) | 13 May
1952  | 17 April
1957  | 4 years, 339 days  | Nehru II
Nehru III
|  | Ashoke Kumar Sen
(1913–1996)
MP for Calcutta North West
(MoS until 12 May 1958)  | 12 May
1957  | 2 April
1962  | 8 years, 257 days
2 April
1962  | 27 May
1964  | Nehru IV
27 May
1964  | 9 June
1964  | Nanda I | Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
9 June
1964  | 11 January
1966  | Shastri | Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966  | 24 January
1966  | Nanda II | Gulzarilal Nanda
(Acting)
|  | Gopal Swarup Pathak
(1896–1982)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 24 January
1966  | 13 March
1967  | 1 year, 48 days  | Indira I | Indira Gandhi
|  | Panampilly Govinda Menon
(1906–1970)
MP for Mukundapuram | 13 March
1967  | 23 May
1970  | 3 years, 71 days
|  | Kengal Hanumanthaiah
(1908–1980)
MP for Bangalore City | 26 June
1970  | 18 March
1971  | 265 days
Minister of Law and Justice
|  | H. R. Gokhale
(1915–1978)
MP for Mumbai North West | 18 March
1971  | 5 February
1973  | 1 year, 324 days  | Indian National Congress | Indira II | Indira Gandhi
Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
|  | H. R. Gokhale
(1915–1978)
MP for Mumbai North West | 5 February
1973  | 24 March
1977  | 4 years, 47 days  | Indian National Congress | Indira II | Indira Gandhi
|  | Shanti Bhushan
(1925–2023)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 26 March
1977  | 28 July
1979  | 2 years, 124 days  | Janata Party | Desai | Morarji Desai
|  | Justice (Retd.)
Hans Raj Khanna
(1912–2008)
Unelected | 30 July
1979  | 3 August
1979  | 4 days  | Janata Party (Secular) | Charan Singh | Charan Singh
|  | Shyam Nath Kacker
(born unknown)
Unelected | 3 August
1979  | 14 January
1980  | 164 days
|  | P. Shiv Shankar
(1929–2017)
MP for Secunderabad | 14 January
1980  | 15 January
1982  | 2 years, 1 day  | Indian National Congress | Indira III | Indira Gandhi
|  | Jagannath Kaushal
(1915–2001)
MP for Chandigarh | 15 January
1982  | 31 October
1984  | 2 years, 290 days
Minister of Law and Justice
|  | Jagannath Kaushal
(1915–2001)
MP for Chandigarh | 4 November
1984  | 31 December
1984  | 57 days  | Indian National Congress | Rajiv I | Rajiv Gandhi
|  | Ashoke Kumar Sen
(1913–1996)
MP for Calcutta North West | 31 December
1984  | 31 March
1987  | 2 years, 90 days  | Rajiv II
|  | P. Shiv Shankar
(1929–2017)
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha) | 25 July
1987  | 14 February
1988  | 204 days
|  | Bindeshwari Dubey
(1921–1993)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha) | 14 February
1988  | 26 June
1988  | 133 days
|  | B. Shankaranand
(1925–2009)
MP for Chikkodi | 25 June
1988  | 2 December
1989  | 1 year, 160 days
|  | Dinesh Goswami
(1935–1991)
MP for Assam (Rajya Sabha) | 6 December
1989  | 10 November
1990  | 339 days  | Asom Gana Parishad | V. P. Singh | V. P. Singh
|  | Subramanian Swamy
(born 1939)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 21 November
1990  | 21 June
1991  | 212 days  | Janata Party | Chandra Shekhar | Chandra Shekhar
Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
|  | Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy
(1920–2001)
MP for Kurnool | 21 June
1991  | 9 October
1992  | 1 year, 110 days  | Indian National Congress | Rao | P. V. Narasimha Rao
|  | P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal
(Prime Minister)  | 9 October
1992  | 16 May
1996  | 3 years, 220 days
|  | Ram Jethmalani
(1923–2019)
MP for Maharashtra (Rajya Sabha) | 16 May
1996  | 1 June
1996  | 16 days  | Independent | Vajpayee I | Atal Bihari Vajpayee
|  | P. Chidambaram
(born 1945)
MP for Sivaganga | 1 June
1996  | 29 June
1996  | 28 days  | Tamil Maanila Congress | Deve Gowda | H. D. Deve Gowda
|  | Ramakant Khalap
(born 1946)
MP for Panaji
(MoS, I/C)  | 29 June
1996  | 21 April
1997  | 1 year, 263 days  | Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
21 April
1997  | 19 March
1998  | Gujral | Inder Kumar Gujral
|  | M. Thambidurai
(born 1947)
MP for Karur | 19 March
1998  | 8 April
1999  | 1 year, 20 days  | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Vajpayee II | Atal Bihari Vajpayee
|  | Rangarajan Kumaramangalam
(1952–2000)
MP for Tiruchirappalli | 9 April
1999  | 8 June
1999  | 60 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party
|  | Ram Jethmalani
(1923–2019)
MP for Maharashtra | 8 June
1999  | 13 October
1999  | 1 year, 45 days  | Independent
13 October
1999  | 23 July
2000  | Vajpayee III
|  | Arun Jaitley
(1952–2019)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
(MoS, I/C until 7 November 2000)  | 24 July
2000  | 1 July
2002  | 1 year, 342 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party
Minister of Law and Justice
|  | Jana Krishnamurthi
(1928–2007)
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha) | 1 July
2002  | 29 January
2003  | 212 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | Atal Bihari Vajpayee
|  | Arun Jaitley
(1952–2019)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 29 January
2003  | 22 May
2004  | 1 year, 114 days
|  | H. R. Bhardwaj
(1939–2020)
MP for Madhya Pradesh, until 2006
(Rajya Sabha)
MP for Haryana, from 2006 (Rajya Sabha) | 23 May
2004  | 22 May
2009  | 4 years, 364 days  | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh
|  | Veerappa Moily
(born 1940)
MP for Chikballapur | 28 May
2009  | 12 July
2011  | 2 years, 45 days  | Manmohan II
|  | Salman Khurshid
(born 1953)
MP for Farrukhabad | 12 July
2011  | 28 October
2012  | 1 year, 108 days
|  | Ashwani Kumar
(born 1952)
MP for Punjab (Rajya Sabha) | 28 October
2012  | 11 May
2013  | 348 days
|  | Kapil Sibal
(born 1948)
MP for Chandni Chowk | 11 May
2013  | 26 May
2014  | 1 year, 15 days
|  | Ravi Shankar Prasad
(born 1954)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha) | 26 May
2014  | 9 November
2014  | 167 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi
|  | D. V. Sadananda Gowda
(born 1953)
MP for Bangalore North | 9 November
2014  | 5 July
2016  | 1 year, 239 days
|  | Ravi Shankar Prasad
(born 1954)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha), till 2019
MP for Patna Sahib, from 2019 | 5 July
2016  | 30 May
2019  | 5 years, 2 days
31 May
2019  | 7 July
2021  | Modi II
|  | Kiren Rijiju
(born 1971)
MP for Arunachal West | 7 July
2021  | 18 May
2023  | 1 year, 315 days
|  | Arjun Ram Meghwal
(born 1953)
MP for Bikaner
(MoS, I/C)  | 18 May
2023  | Incumbent  | 197 days

## Ministers of State[edit]

Portrait  | Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency | Term of office  | Political party  | Ministry  | Prime Minister  | Cabinet Minister

|
|
|
|
|
|

From  | To  | Period
|  | H. R. Bhardwaj
(1939–2020)
MP for Madhya Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 31 October
1984  | 2 December
1989  | 5 years, 32 days  | Indian National Congress | Rajiv | Rajiv Gandhi |  | Jagannath Kaushal
| Ashoke Kumar Sen
| P. Shiv Shankar
| Bindeshwari Dubey
| B. Shankaranand
|  | O. Rajagopal
(born 1929)
MP for Madhya Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) | 13 October
1999  | 24 July
2000  | 285 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |  | Ram Jethmalani
|  | Ravi Shankar Prasad
रविशंकर प्रसाद
(born 1954)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha) | 1 July
2002  | 29 January
2003  | 212 days  |  | Jana Krishnamurthy
|  | P. C. Thomas
(born 1950)
MP for Muvattupuzha | 24 May
2003  | 22 May
2004  | 364 days  | Kerala Congress |  | Arun Jaitley
|  | K. Venkatapathy
(born 1946)
MP for Cuddalore | 23 May
2004  | 22 May
2009  | 4 years, 364 days  | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh |  | H. R. Bhardwaj
|  | P. P. Chaudhary
(born 1953)
MP for Pali | 5 July
2016  | 30 May
2019  | 2 years, 329 days  | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi |  | Ravi Shankar Prasad
|  | S. P. Singh Baghel
(born 1960)
MP for Agra | 7 July
2021  | 18 May
2023  | 1 year, 315 days  | Modi II |  | Kiren Rijiju

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Arjun Ram Meghwal is the New Union Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju Moves to Earth Sciences Ministry". News18. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
2. ^ "Kiren Rijiju Replaced As Law Minister, Shifted To Earth Sciences". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 May 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Law & Justice Minister Ministry, Official website

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