The Comptroller and Auditor General - Powers
The Comptroller and Auditor General - Powers
Earlier, we discussed who a Comptroller and Auditor general is, who appoints him, what his tenure is, how he fits in the legal framework of India and what his duties are. Continuing our journey through Special audits, today’s topic of discussion is the power of The Comptroller and Auditor General.
Following the international policy on recaps, here is a short synopsis on the Comptroller and Auditor General. If you want a detailed analysis of how a CAG fits into the legal framework of the country and the duties of a CAG, you can use the respective links to those articles.
C&AG is appointed by the President of India. This, along with the fact that he can only be removed on the ground of proven misbehavior or incapacity ensures that he is completely independent in his actions.
In short, the constitution recognizes C&AG as a judge of Supreme Court, he draws the same amount of salary. Further, he can be removed only when each House of Parliament decides to do so by a majority of not less than 2/3rd of the members of the House present and voting.
He has duties prescribed by the Constitution of India which are:
- To Compile and submit Accounts of Union and States
- Duties regarding General Provisions Relating to Audit -
- Audit of Receipts and Expenditure
- Audit of Grants or Loans
- Audit of Receipts of Union or States
- Audit of Accounts of Stores and Inventory
- Audit of Government Companies and Corporations
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And now, with all that being said, let's jump into our today's topic of discussion, the powers of CAG.
An act of Parliament, The C&AG act has given various powers to the C&AG in connection with his duties and performances. We will talk about these powers in brief.
Power to Inspect accounts
To begin, he has the power to inspect any office of accounts which are under the control of the Union or a State Government. This includes those offices too which are responsible for the creation of the initial or subsidiary accounts.
Further, he has the power to order the office of accounts which are under the control of the Union or a State Government tp send their accounts, books, papers and other documents which deal with or are otherwise relevant to the transactions under audit, to specified places.
Inquire for Information
CAG has the power to question the people in charge of offices for any information which he requires to prepare any account or report as per his duties. He also makes various observations in the office to acquire any information that is necessary for him to fulfill his duties.
And in the course of carrying out his audit, he has the power to allocate any part of detailed audit of any accounts of any office to other persons as prescribed, and apply limited checks in relation to such accounts or transaction as he determines.
So, with this article, we conclude our discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General. We will continue our topic of Special audits with Hospital Audits in the next article. If you have any concerns or doubts, feel free to raise a query.
Thank You!
