With a how-could-Sushmaji-do-it-to-us expressions, they had just one question to ask: ``How can the Delhi Government patrol the streets when they do not have the authority to police?'' Confused constables stood nearby. It seemed as if their ``sir'' had been stripped of power.

The Police Commissioner, V.N. Singh could not concentrate, ``I am a victim of the media''is all that he managed to tell the crime reporters. Law and order problems was one of the charges against Sahib Singh Verma's chief ministership. ``How can you say that?'' he asked, ``there will obviously be a rise in the crime rate due to free registration of cases''.

All the Who's Who of Delhi Police were there the Additional Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners of Police and the Assistant Commissioners of Police.

Along with the tea and roasted cashewnuts, officials aired their views on the ministers' patrolling schedules. ``There is a line of command that one has to follow. How can an outsider teach the police its duty?'' asked one Deputy Commissioner of Police. His subordinates nodded in unison.

Another policeman was ``hurt'' by Finance Minister Jagdish Mukhi's rounds. He wondered how Mukhi could have entered the maal khana of a police station during his night patrol. Case property is stored in the maal khana. He pointed out: ``No one is permitted to enter the area. Even we cannot enter it without completing procedural formalities and Mukhi just walked in...''

Oblivious to police censure, Health and Education Minister Harsh Vardhan had patrolled the Sarojini Nagar and Anand Vihar police station areas between 11.30 and 3 a.m. yesterday. And today CM Sushma Swaraj went on the defensive: ``We are not getting any sadistic pleasure by catching guilty police officers. We want to drive home the message that we are on red alert''.

Meanwhile, many police officers at PHQ believed that the ministers' night patrol was just an election gimmick. They were aggrieved that the BJP was trying to reap the dividends of the rise in crime rate. ``No party should be allowed to take law and order into their own hands,'' they said. A policeman had a suggestion for the ministers: ``If they are so worried about the woes of the public, why don't they visit police stations like ordinary people? Why do they need a special announcement and a convoy of cars to visit police stations?''