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 ofCabinet of India
Reports toPrime Minister of India
Parliament of India
AppointerPresident of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation15 August 1947 (1947-08-15)
First holderB. R. Ambedkar
DeputyMinister of State for Law and Justice

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

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

  • 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 240 days

Ministers of State

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

  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.
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