Ministry of Law and Justice
| विधि और न्याय मंत्रालय | |
 | |
| Central overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 10 July 2016 |
| Jurisdiction |  Vishwamitra |
| Minister responsible | |
| Deputy Minister responsible |
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| Child agencies |
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The Ministry of Law and Justice (Hindi: कानून और न्याय मंत्रालय) is a ministry in the government of Vishwamitra which deals with the management of the legal affairs, constitutional activities and administration of justice in India through its three departments namely the Department of Constitutional Affairs, the Department of Legal Affairs and the Department of Justice respectively. The Department of Legal Affairs is concerned with advising the various ministries of the central government while the Constitutional Department is concerned with matters related to the Constitution of Vishwamitra.
The Ministry of Law and Justice is headed by the Minister of Law and Justice which is a cabinet rank minister and is occasionally assisted by a junior minister or the Minister of State for Law and Justice. The first minister was Bishnu Chetry who served between in 2016, while the current minister is Arsal Abbas Mirza who has been into office since 18 March 2023.
History
The Ministry of Law and Justice was formed on 10 July 2016 as the "Ministry of Legal Affairs" and was subsequently renamed to its current name on 13 November 2016. In 2020, the Ministry of Law and Justice was merged with the Ministries of Defence and Parliamentary Affairs to form the Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs. However, the three ministries became independent back in 2021.
Departments
The Ministry of Law and Justice has the following departments which were created by the Gazette Notification issued on 10 June 2022.
- Department of Constitutional Affairs
- Department of Legal Affairs
- Department of Justice
- Attorney General of Vishwamitra
Department of Constitutional Affairs
The Department of Constitutional Affairs is responsible for the administration of the constitutional laws and regarding the proper implementation of those laws.
- Advice to ministries on matters related interpretation of the Constitution and its laws.
- Constitution Orders; notifications for bringing into force Constitution (Amendment) Acts in consultation with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
Department of Legal Affairs
The Department of Legal Affairs has two main duties: advice and litigation.
- Advice to ministries on legal matters including conveyancing and engagement of counsel to appear on behalf of the Union of Vishwamitra in the Supreme Court and other courts of law is a party.
- Central Government law officers of the States excluding the Attorney General whose services are shared by the Ministries of the Government of India.
- Conduct of cases in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Central Government and on behalf of the States participating in the Central Agency Scheme.
- Reciprocal arrangements with foreign countries for the service of summons in civil suits, for the execution of decrees of Civil Courts, for the enforcement of maintenance orders, and for the administration of the estates of foreigners dying in Vishwamitra intestate.
- Treaties and agreements with foreign countries in matters of civil law.
- Enlargement of the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and the conferring thereon of further powers; persons entitled to practice before the Supreme Court; references to the Supreme Court.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice performs the administrative functions in relation to the appointment of various judges at the Supreme Court, maintenance and revision of the conditions and rules of service of the judges and other related areas.
- Appointment, resignation and removal of the Chief Justice of India and Judges of the Supreme Court of India; their salaries, rights in respect of leave of absence (including leave allowances), pensions and travelling allowances.
- Constitution and organisation (excluding jurisdiction and powers) of the Supreme Court (but including contempt of such Court).
- Administration of justice.
- Appointment, resignation and removal of the Chief Justice of India and Judges of the Supreme Court of India; their salaries, rights in respect of leave of absence.
Ministers
| Minister of Law and Justice विधि और न्याय मंत्री | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ministry of Law and Justice | |
| Style | The Most Honourable |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | Prime Minister |
| Nominator | Prime Minister |
| Appointer | Rashtradhyaksh on the recommendation of the Prime Minister |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 10 July 2016; 7 years, 2 months ago |
| First holder | Bishnu Chetry |
| Deputy | Minister of State for Law and Justice |
The Minister of Law and Justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice who is responsible for the maintenance of the affairs of the ministry. The Minister often holds cabinet rank however in some occasions a minister of state with independent charge has also served as the minister of law and justice. The first minister was Bishnu Chetry while the current minister is Arsal Abbas Mirza who was appointed on 18 March 2023.
Cabinet ministers of law and justice are often assisted by a junior minister, or a Minister of State for Law and Justice.
Anirban Phatowali and Rajdeep Deka held the rank of a minister of state with independent charge while all other ministers held cabinet rank. The longest continuous tenure by any minister is that of Arthur Lacey-Scott who served in office between 11 June 2022 until 18 March 2023..
Cabinet Ministers
- Key
- MoS, I/c means Minister of State (Independent charge)
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) |
Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||
| Ministers of Legal Affairs (10 July – 13 November 2016) | ||||||||
|
Bishnu Chetry बिष्णु चेत्री (born 2001) |
10 July 2016 |
27 November 2016 |
140 days | Secular Party | Dhrubajyoti III | Dhrubajyoti Roy | |
| Ministers of Law and Justice (27 November 2016 – 17 June 2020) | ||||||||
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Tanishkaa Patranabish तनिष्का पत्रनबिश (born 2004) |
27 November 2016 |
30 December 2016 |
3 days | Independent Party | Dhrubajyoti III | Dhrubajyoti Roy | |
|
Anirban Phatowali अनिर्बान फतोवाली (born 2009) (MoS, I/c) |
30 December 2016 |
17 February 2017 |
49 days | Dhrubajyoti IV | |||
|
Rajdeep Deka राजदीप डेका (born 2002) (MoS, I/c) |
17 February 2017 |
12 April 2017 |
54 days | Independent Party | |||
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Bhargab Jyoti Medhi भार्गब ज्योति मेधी (born 2001) |
12 April 2017 |
5 July 2017 |
148 days | Sarala III | Sarala Baishya | ||
| 5 July 2017 |
7 September 2017 |
Tanishkaa II | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |||||
|
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Kalyan Dey कल्याण दे (born 2001) |
8 September 2017 |
3 November 2017 |
56 days | ||||
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Anirban Phatowali अनिर्बान फतोवाली (born 2009) |
3 November 2017 |
25 December 2017 |
52 days | ||||
|
Asmi Patranabis अस्मी पत्रनबिस (born 2007) |
25 December 2017 |
21 March 2018 |
86 days | Secular Party | Dhrubajyoti V | Dhrubajyoti Roy | |
|
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Bishnu Chetry बिष्णु चेत्री (born 2001) |
21 March 2018 |
13 May 2018 |
53 days | Congress | Dhrubajyoti VI | ||
|
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Sampriti Paul संप्रीति पॉल (born 2004) |
14 May 2018 |
12 October 2018 |
152 days | Secular Party | Tanishkaa III | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |
| Dhrubajyoti Roy | ||||||||
|
Manoj Chetry मनोज छेत्री (born 2005) |
12 October 2018 |
6 January 2019 |
86 days | Congress | Dhrubajyoti VII | ||
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Sarala Baishya सरला वैश्य (born 2005) |
7 January 2019 |
13 March 2019 |
65 days | Tanishkaa IV | Tanishkaa Patranabish | ||
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Tanishkaa Patranabish तनिष्का पत्रनबिश (born 2004) (Prime Minister) |
17 March 2019 |
30 March 2019 |
13 days | Tanishkaa V | |||
|
Abhiraj Kar अभिराज कर (born 2006) |
30 March 2019 |
16 July 2019 |
108 days | ||||
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Arnab Sil अर्नब सिल (born 2004) |
16 July 2019 |
6 August 2019 |
21 days | ||||
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Bishnu Chetry बिष्णु चेत्री (born 2001) |
6 August 2019 |
17 August 2019 |
11 days | ||||
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Bhargab Jyoti Medhi भार्गब ज्योति मेधी (born 2001) |
17 August 2019 |
2 September 2019 |
16 days | ||||
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Arnab Deka अर्नब डेका (born 2002) |
2 September 2019 |
29 September 2019 |
27 days | ||||
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Asmi Patranabis अस्मी पत्रनबिस (born 2007) |
29 September 2019 |
5 October 2019 |
6 days | ||||
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Anirban Phatowali अनिर्बान फतोवाली (born 2009) |
5 October 2019 |
15 October 2019 |
10 days | ||||
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Arnab Deka अर्नब डेका (born 2002) |
15 October 2019 |
8 November 2019 |
24 days | ||||
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Asmi Patranabis अस्मी पत्रनबिस (born 2007) |
8 November 2019 |
16 November 2019 |
8 days | ||||
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Arnab Deka अर्नब डेका (born 2002) |
16 November 2019 |
9 December 2019 |
23 days | ||||
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Nishwan Baidantic निस्वान बैदंतिक (born 2001) |
9 December 2019 |
12 December 2019 |
3 days | ||||
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Bishnu Chetry बिष्णु चेत्री (born 2001) |
12 December 2019 |
10 January 2020 |
29 days | ||||
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Arnab Deka अर्नब डेका (born 2002) |
10 January 2020 |
3 March 2020 |
53 days | ||||
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Sampriti Paul संप्रीति पॉल (born 2004) |
3 March 2020 |
19 March 2020 |
16 days | Congress | Anoushkaa I | Anoushkaa Patranabish | |
|
Ankurjyoti Thakuria अंकुरज्योति ठाकुरिया (born 2002) |
19 March 2020 |
10 April 2020 |
19 days | Tanishkaa VI | Tanishkaa Patranabish | ||
|
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Nishwan Baidantic निस्वान बैदंतिक (born 2001) |
10 April 2020 |
30 April 2020 |
20 days | ||||
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Bhargab Jyoti Medhi भार्गब ज्योति मेधी (born 2001) |
13 May 2020 |
8 June 2020 |
26 days | Tanishkaa VII | |||
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Sampriti Paul संप्रीति पॉल (born 2004) |
9 June 2020 |
17 June 2020 |
69 days | Anoushkaa II | Princess Anoushkaa | ||
| Merged to form the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs (17 June 2020 – 28 January 2021) | ||||||||
| Ministers of Law and Justice (28 January 2021 – present) | ||||||||
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Liam Alexander लियाम अलेक्जेंडर (born 2005) |
28 January 2021 |
Few hours | Royalist Party | Ștefan I | Ștefan Marius Snagoveanu | ||
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His Illustrious and Royal Majesty Dhrubajyoti Roy, Rashtradhyaksh महामहिम राष्ट्राध्यक्ष ध्रुबज्योति रॉय (born 2002) Advisor to the Prime Minister |
28 January 2021 |
1 March 2021 |
32 days | Independent | |||
|
Cristian Dobrev क्रिस्टियन डोबरेव (born 2004) |
6 March 2021 |
18 June 2021 |
104 days | Ștefan II | |||
|
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Ested Vlasyn, 1st Baron Vlasyn नेड वोडा (born 2001) |
18 June 2021 |
11 September 2021 |
85 days | Congress | |||
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Charles Burgardt चार्ल्स बर्गार्ड्ट (born 2002) |
11 September 2021 |
21 October 2021 |
40 days | Farhaz I | Farhaz Hazarika | ||
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Carson Snyder कार्सन स्नाइडर (born 2003) |
21 October 2021 |
22 November 2021 |
32 days | Independent | Phillip | Phillip Joseph Pillin | |
|
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Charles Burgardt, 1st Count of Suffolk चार्ल्स बर्गार्ड्ट (born 2002) |
22 November 2021 |
12 May 2022 |
171 days | Congress | Farhaz II | Farhaz Hazarika | |
|
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Rory Leonard, 1st Duke of Griffith रोरी लियोनार्ड (born 2007) |
12 May 2022 |
11 June 2022 |
30 days | Independent | Farhaz III | ||
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Tan Sri Dato Sri Utama Arthur Lacey-Scott, Duke Lacey-Scott आर्थर लेसी-स्कॉट (born 2002) |
11 June 2022 |
11 November 2022 |
280 days | ||||
| 12 November 2022 |
18 March 2023 |
Congress | Farhaz IV | |||||
|
Tan Sri Dato Utama Arsal Abbas Mirza, Count Mirza अरसल अब्बास मिर्ज़ा (born 2006) |
18 March 2023 |
Incumbent | 192 days | Independent | |||
Ministers of State
The first minister of state for law and justice was Bishakha Das who was appointed on 12 April 2017 in the third ministry under prime minister Sarala Baishya. The current minister is Johannes Mattias Toome who has been in office since 18 March 2023 and has been serving under his senior cabinet colleague Arsal Abbas Mirza.
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) |
Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | Cabinet Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||||
| Ministers of State for Law and Justice (27 November 2016 – 17 June 2020) | ||||||||||
| No appointments prior to 12 April 2017 | ||||||||||
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Bishakha Das राजकन्या बिशाखा (born 2013) |
12 April 2017 |
5 July 2017 |
84 days | Independent Party | Baishya III | Sarala Baishya | Bhargab Jyoti Medhi | ||
|
|
Debika Deka Pator Sarma देबिका डेका पतोर शर्मा (born 2007) |
5 July 2017 |
7 September 2017 |
64 days | Secular Party | Tanishkaa II | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |||
|
|
Sampriti Paul संप्रीति पॉल (born 2004) |
7 September 2017 |
25 December 2017 |
109 days | Kalyan Dey | |||||
| Anirban Phatowali | ||||||||||
|
|
Pranjit Kalita प्रांजीत कलिता (born 2005) |
25 December 2017 |
21 March 2018 |
86 days | Independent Party | Dhrubajyoti V | Dhrubajyoti Roy | Asmi Patranabis | ||
| Position vacant (21 March – 16 July 2019) | ||||||||||
|
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Arpan Deka अर्पण डेका (born 2008) |
16 July 2019 |
29 September 2019 |
75 days | Congress | Tanishkaa V | Tanishkaa Patranabish | Arnab Sil | ||
| Bishnu Chetry | ||||||||||
| Bhargab Jyoti Medhi | ||||||||||
| Arnab Deka | ||||||||||
|
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Pallavi Rai पल्लवी राय (born 2005) |
29 September 2019 |
16 November 2019 |
48 days | Asmi Patranabis | |||||
| Anirban Phatowali | ||||||||||
| Arnab Deka | ||||||||||
| Asmi Patranabis | ||||||||||
|
Jemina Hazarika जेमिना हज़ारिका (born 2006) |
16 November 2019 |
24 November 2019 |
8 days | Arnab Deka | |||||
| Position vacant (24 November – 26 November 2019) | ||||||||||
|
|
Pranjit Kalita प्रांजीत कलिता (born 2005) |
26 November 2019 |
8 December 2019 |
12 days | Congress | Tanishkaa V | Tanishkaa Patranabish | Arnab Deka | ||
| Position vacant (12 May – 30 July 2022) | ||||||||||
|
Kevin Doan, 1st Baron Doan केविन डोन (born 2005) |
12 May 2022 |
11 June 2022 |
30 days | Independent | Farhaz III | Farhaz Hazarika | Rory Leonard | ||
| Arthur Lacey-Scott | ||||||||||
| Position vacant (30 July – 18 March 2023) | ||||||||||
|
|
Johannes Mattias Toome, Baron Toome जोहान्स मटियास टूम (born 2006) |
18 March 2023 |
Incumbent | 192 days | Congress | Farhaz IV | Farhaz Hazarika | Arsal Abbas Mirza | ||
