Two portfolios are held at present. They are set out below as two chapters: first what each Ministry is constitutionally and administratively responsible for, and then — kept separate — what the Minister has been recorded doing in person.
Current role — verified September 2026
Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Independent charge means the Ministry is not held by a Cabinet Minister above him: he answers for it in Parliament and takes its decisions. The Ministry works through three departments — Legal Affairs, Legislative, and Justice — covering the drafting of Union legislation, the Government’s legal advice and litigation, arbitration policy, appointments to the higher judiciary, judicial infrastructure, court digitisation and legal aid.
Minister of State
The Ministry plans and coordinates the Government’s business in both Houses, handles government legislation through its parliamentary stages, and runs the National e-Vidhan Application and the Youth Parliament schemes. Shri Kiren Rijiju holds the portfolio as Union Minister; Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Dr. L. Murugan are Ministers of State in the Ministry.
Under the Constitution the Union executive is the President, who acts on the aid and advice of a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and hold office during the President’s pleasure.
The Council has three ranks: Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and Ministers of State with Independent Charge. A Minister of State assists a Cabinet Minister in a Ministry. A Minister of State with Independent Charge carries the Ministry himself, reporting to the Prime Minister rather than to a Cabinet Minister within that department, and answers for it on the floor of the House.
The Council is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. That is the mechanism by which the parliamentary questions, the written replies and the statements documented across this record exist at all: they are the form in which a Ministry accounts to Parliament.
Reproduced from the chronology published by the Press Information Bureau on his taking charge at the Ministry of Law and Justice, together with Government releases issued since.
| Period | Office | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Finance and Corporate Affairs | Union Minister of State |
| 2017–2019 | Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation; Parliamentary Affairs | Union Minister of State |
| 2019–2021 | Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises; Parliamentary Affairs | Union Minister of State |
| 2021–2023 | Culture; Parliamentary Affairs | Union Minister of State |
| 2023–2024 | Law and Justice; Culture; Parliamentary Affairs | Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice; Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs |
| 11 Jun 2024– | Law and Justice; Parliamentary AffairsTook charge at the Ministry of Law and Justice on 11 June 2024 | Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice; Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs |
Scroll the table sideways to read every column.
Each entry names an act the official record attributes to him individually — approving, presiding, replying, representing — with the date and the release that records it.
22 June 2026
Approved the continuation of the Central Sector Scheme for access to justice as DISHA 2.0 for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, with an outlay of ₹255 crore and a new component, VIDHI–Sanjeevani.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Law and Justice, Release ID 2276525.
4 June 2026
Present at the signing of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding bringing the West Bengal Legislative Assembly onto the National e-Vidhan Application as the 33rd legislature to join.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Release ID 2269037.
12 March 2026
Took part in the 12th Asian and Pacific Regional Conference held in New Delhi by the All India Prosecutors’ Association, in discussions on judicial reform, prosecution and technology in the justice sector.
Akashvani News / News on AIR, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
15 January 2026
Presided over the prize distribution for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, and administered a pledge on protecting the environment.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Release ID 2215071.
29 October 2025
Represented India at the Twelfth Session of the Justice Ministers’ Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States by video conference, at which a joint statement was adopted.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Law and Justice, Release ID 2183882.
30 Sep – 2 Oct 2024
Led an Indian delegation to the United Kingdom, holding a bilateral meeting with the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, attending the opening of the UK Legal Year at Westminster Abbey, and paying tribute to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at the London School of Economics.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Law and Justice, Release ID 2062285.
11 June 2024
Assumed charge of the Ministry of Law and Justice in New Delhi, stating that generating awareness of the three new criminal laws and securing speedy justice in the courts were priorities.
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Law and Justice, Release ID 2024165.
Schemes, digitisation programmes, judicial appointments and legislative reform are the work of Ministries, departments, the judiciary and the Government of India acting together, over periods that span several office-holders. Nothing in this record should be read as attributing a Government or ministry-wide programme to any individual. Where an act is personal — an approval signed, a function presided over, a delegation led, a reply given — it is labelled as such and dated.
A large part of the documented work of this office consists of replying to Parliament. Questions are tabled by Members; the Ministry prepares an answer; the Minister lays it before the House. The reply then becomes a public record of what the Government states to be the position on a given date.
That is why so many entries in this record are phrased as “this information was given by the Minister of State … in a written reply”. It is a specific constitutional act, not a press statement: an answer given on the Government’s behalf, on the record, on a date.
Sources