Kiren Rijiju is no Ram Jethmalani or Arun Jaitley.
A career politician unburdened with any legacy of actual legal practice, but with a genuine degree in law, Rijiju has been promoted to be the Union Minister for Law and Justice. In that capacity, he has prioritised governmental control over the judiciary, while simultaneously paying lip service to its independence.
During the tenures of the past few chief justices, who have not been as compliant as their predecessors, he has been especially proactive in an effort to denude the judiciary of public trust.
Unlike his predecessors Jaitley and Jethmalani who were great courtroom warriors with a sense of reverence for the judicial process, Rijiju has no experience in persuading judges to his preferred point of view.
Irreverently haranguing unelected judges, on the strength of a huge parliamentary majority and orchestrated social media applause, is the style that Rijiju appears to prefer.
A few weeks ago, he took issue with the Supreme Court's order, which put the sedition law on hold. He said:
"We told the Supreme Court that the government is thinking about changing the provision of the sedition law. Despite that, the Supreme Court struck down the provisions of the law. I was very upset about it.”
He further added:
“There is a Lakshman Rekha for everybody. Let us not cross the Lakshman Rekha in the interest of the nation.”