On December 18, I held a press conference where I said that Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister of the country, is "a master of half truths and beautiful lies". What I forgot to mention is that he is an eminent lawyer; unlike other lawyers, he loves to play with constitutional provisions like a musician. I must confess he is a genius in that. He has perfected that art into a "craft". This is a rare talent. He wrote a
blog on the AAP expose of the DDCA scam, and instead of directly replying to questions that had been raised, he raised a few "fundamental questions" of his own to divert the issue which is diabolical in nature; since I have known him for more than two decades, I can tell you that he is hinting at the "irrelevance of free speech" which is a cardinal principle of any Democracy. Democracy without free speech is no democracy.
Read the first sentence of his blog and I quote - "Free speech is unquestionably a pre-eminent Fundamental Right, but does free speech include the right to speak only falsehood?" This sentence was not required at all in this debate about the DDCA scam. He should have answered specific questions but he took refuge in raising a larger question of free speech and tried to turn the tables on us. This is the same Jaitley who had questioned the "relevance of the Rajya Sabha", the Upper House, when the Modi government could not pass the GST bill; very recently, he called the Supreme Court judgement on the NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) the "tyranny of the unelected". He has used the same expression - "tyranny of unelected" - for the Rajya Sabha too. On both occasions, his diatribe against the two constitutional institutions was misplaced and dangerous.
He was, in fact, advocating against the spirit of the constitution. The principle of "separation of powers" is enshrined in the constitution to stop majoritarian democracy from being converted into majoritarian dictatorship. What he has insinuated is simple. Since the BJP has a popular mandate and a huge majority in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister, Mr Modi, is "hugely" popular, and unelected bodies cannot or should not fetter the functioning of the government. Similarly, Mr Jaitley has also issued a veiled threat to CAG (the Comptroller and Auditor General). Enriched poitcally by the experience of the CAG's scathing details of several scams during UPA government, he has said that CAG should not sensationalise scam figures. If such figures were true during the UPA rule, then they should be true during the Modi regime too. But then Mr Jaitley is made of a different mettle.
In his beautiful style, he raises another question. He writes - "Federalism is not a one way stream. It is not always that the union Government challenges the spirit of federalism. A state or a union territory, by its unacceptable conduct can also be a threat to federalism". At the outset, one can agree with him, but there is a catch. Those who seek justice should come with clean hands. The record of the government in which he is a powerful minister is not above board. Since Mrs Indira Gandhi's time, this (the centre) is the government out to destabilize all opposition state governments.
Delhi is a classic example. The office of the city's police commissioner and Lieutenant Governor has been used in the most vulgar manner to immobilize the duly elected government. The Kejriwal government has not been allowed to choose its own secretaries, competent officers are being threatened, officers who are delivering are being removed without prior information to the state government, central government ministries have been told to not cooperate with the state government, the Anti-Corruption Bureau was forcibly taken over after having reported to the state government for the last 40 years. The Lieutenant Governor is declaring every order passed by the state cabinet null and void. MLAs are being targeted and put behind bars on trivial and concocted charges.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have also complained about the non-cooperation and blatant interference of the centre in state matters. Governors are behaving like central government agents. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has raised this issues many times. The most recent example is that of Arunachal Pradesh, where the Governor's office tried to engineer a coup. His office encouraged the opposition and BJP leaders to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Speaker and destabilize the government. The High Court had to finally step in and stop the proceedings. Why did Mr. Jaitley choose to keep quiet on these matters? Are they not against the spirit of federalism? We are being told by senior CBI officials that they have instructions to "fix" all opposition governments and parties. Is this fair, Mr Jaitley?
Mr Jaitley should also remember that a constitutional sword is always hanging over state governments. The central government can use Article 356 on the pretext of a constitutional breakdown and sack a state government any time. Do I need to recount how many times state governments have been sacked in the past? State governments have no such power. So who is more dangerous for the spirit of federalism - the centre or a state?
It's an open secret that today, no minister in the central cabinet is free to take any decision. Respective secretaries are reporting directly to the Prime Minister's Office, instead of their ministers. Senior ministers are upset, but can't do anything except brood in private. Is this in consonance with the spirit of the federalism and democracy, Mr Jaitley?
Coming back to Mr. Jaitley's blog, in the latter part of his blog, he decided to talk about the DDCA scam, and I was hugely disappointed by his replies; I am left with no option than to repeat that Mr Jaitley is the master of half truths and beautiful lies. He has claimed that he has not been concerned with cricket administration since 2013. He is still the patron-in-chief of the DDCA. And most telling is the comment by cricket legend Bishan Singh Bedi to Rajdeep Sardesai: (translated) "not even a leaf can flutter without Mr. Jaitley's permission."
I would have been happier if Mr Jaitley had engaged with us and responded to AAP's accusations against him and the DDCA. When Arvind Kejriwal first raised the issue of the DDCA and Mr Jaitley's role in it, he responded by saying that "I can't reply to vague questions, if specifics are asked I would have replied". When I asked him five questions which were widely reported in the media, he decided to duck. I don't want to repeat those questions now. I just want to say to the public at large what was said long ago - "There was an old man of Boulogne who sang a most topical song. It was not the words that frightened the birds but the horrible double - entendre". Mr Jaitley knows exactly what I am saying, and so do those who know him well.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.