It made for bizarre reading. The front page of Mumbai’s Free Press Journal of March 9, 2014 screamed “Why can’t BJP, Congress join hands to form govt: SC”

Imagine the wisest court in our country asking for water to mix with oil! But the court was only responding to a petition in which the Aam Aadmi Party had accused the BJP and the Congress of ganging up to “defeat” AAP’s Jana Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly thereby forcing the party’s Government to resign and, thereafter, end up in the dissolution of the Assembly and the imposition of President’s Rule in Delhi even as the Assembly was kept in animated suspension for six months. The AAP’s petition came because it was angry that its plea to Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor to have fresh elections rather than a spell of President’s Rule was not accepted by the LG, Najeeb Jung.

The pollution in the oil-and-water cola proposed by the Supreme Court lay in AAP’s allegation of the above “defeat” of its Jana Lokpal Bill by thegulabi gang version of the saffron BJP  and white-handed Congress. The truth is that the Jana Lokpal Bill was not even discussed in the Assembly. And the only reason the Bill was not discussed was because it was not even introduced in the Assembly! How a Bill can be “defeated” without it being introduced is exactly the kind of bizarre allegations which, as we have seen, AAP makes almost everyday; it is in fact the most conspicuous part of its political ideology, such as it may be.

And why, pray, was the Jana Lokpal Bill not introduced in the Delhi Assembly? It was because the BJP, the Congress and three independent members of the Assembly had respected the opinion of India’s Solicitor General that the Bill was unconstitutional. The Lieutenant General of Delhi had a similar view, but sent it to the Union Law Ministry for a final opinion. The response was the same as that of the Solicitor General. Besides, there was that Home Ministry’s Order of the past which stated that certain kind of legislative bills of the Delhi Assembly required the prior permission of Lieutenant Governor before they were introduced for consideration by the Assembly members. No such approval had apparently been sought by AAP. No wonder the BJP and the Congress refused  the Bill’s introduction despite all kinds of efforts by AAP members including the despicable act of coercing the House Speaker to announce its introduction. Under the circumstances, only the bizarre AAP could reveal fanatical foolhardiness to even first think of slipping in its Jana Lokpal Bill on the floor of the Delhi Assembly, and thereafter allege that the Bill had been “defeated”.

It’s a pity that the ‘Breaking News’ obsessed citizens of the huge media world never told us why exactly the Bill was considered as unconstitutional. Very few of them, you see, have studied our nation’s Constitution, leave alone scanning it, perusing it, or even seeing it. None would seem to have bothered to secure the written opinion of the Solicitor General or of the Law Ministry.

The truth lies in our Constitution’s Article 239AA which is described as “Special provision with respect to Delhi”. Section (3)(a) of that Article lays down that:

For the benefit of the lay (aam admi) readers, the ‘Union List’, ‘State List’ and ‘Concurrent List’ constitute the Seventh Schedule of Article 246 of our Constitution dealing with the subject matter of laws that can be made by our Parliament and by the Legislatures of States.

That Article lays down that Parliament has the exclusive right to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the Union List (also called List 1); similarly, the State Legislature have the power to make laws with respect to subject matter enumerated in the State List (called List 2). Finally, Parliament as well as the State Legislature have the power to make laws on any matter included in the Concurrent List (called List 3). For the benefit of aam admi readers once again, the Union List contained 97 entries at last count, while the State List had 51 entries and the Concurrent List had 52.  It’s important to note that the powers to make laws stated here are subject to certain restrictions which need not be gone into here.

What is important to note for this particular article dealing with the constitutionality of AAP’s Jana Lokpal Bill is that Article 239AA quoted two paragraphs above does not permit the Delhi Assembly to enact a law included in entries 1, 2 and 18 of the State List, as well as entries 64, 65 and 66 therein having connection with those three.

With regard to the State List, Entry 1 relates to “Public order in and of the civil order” while Entry 2 therein relates to “Police, including railway and village police” and Entry18 therein relates to “Land,” with all its associated activities. Accordingly, the cited three Entries are prohibited subjects for lawmaking by the Delhi Assembly. The most crucial exclusion is the “Police” without which any anti-corruption Lokpal Bill is incomplete. With that being settled into a QED, there’s really no need to look into State List’s entries 64, 65 and 66 which too show the red signal to the Delhi Assembly.

It is so bloody bizarre therefore that the Supreme Court did not pull up AAP for blaming the BJP and the Congress for coming together to “defeat” the Jana Lokpal Bill. The SC should have bluntly reminded AAP to adhere to the truth that BJP and Congress were prepared to debate the Bill and even pass it provided it was first introduced on the floor of the Assembly by proper Constitutional means. Going by Press reports, neither the counsel opposing the AAP’s petition nor the SC slap, rapped AAP’s knuckles on this score and the Supreme Court seems to have allowed AAP to shoot and scoot as is its now accepted style. And, instead, the SC wondered why, in politics at least, oil cannot mix with water.  If, as it appears, the SC too has fallen a victim to AAP’s cunning distortions of truth, it is no surprise because, as the last few months have shown, AAP’s mere presence in the neighbourhood makes the air around so polluted and bizarre.

By some bizarre coincidence, the next hearing of AAP’s petition on the Delhi Assembly dissolution is scheduled for April 1 — All Fool’s Day, remember? If, on that day, the SC’s verdict favours AAP’s plea and the elections thereafter result in — as today’s stars foretell — a defeat of AAP, we will have seen a most bizarre episode of our political times.