Comptroller & Auditor General

CAG	Article 148 - Guardian of public purse  A 149 - parlia - prescribe power & duties - CAG act, 1971 Financial acctly - of exec to parlia-  guide PAC 4 bulwark of democracy: SC, UPSC, EC, CAG Ambedkar: most important office under the constitution
Independence	Security of tenure - removal  like SC judge No post-retirement job, Salary & services determined by parliament,  Admin power of IA&AS   expenditure charged upon CFI
Function	Types of audit:  Compliance audit (Obligatory)-with rules & regulation  Finance audit - financial & regulatory framework FRBM Performance audit: (discretionary) - Economy, efficiency & effectiveness Efficiency audit: largely of PSUs Propriety audits:  wisdom behind the financial transaction Audit and report: CFI, PAI, Contingency FI expenditure and receipt All accounts of depts. of union and state Substantially financed bodies by the govt. Audit of Govt. corporation Other: if President and governor thinks so helps the FC For states it maintains the accounts also 3 report to prez Appropriation account, Finance Account, Public Undertaking account
Issues	Appointed by central govt - COI - Qn on exec accountability  Post facto Audit Only auditor, not comptroller unlike UK Not member of parlia - UK Exceed mandate - eg -2g, Coal scam, Overreach - Propriety audits Policy Paralysis - bureau bcom risk-averse , audit delays,  1% report analysed by PAC Right to information of CAG is weaker then citizens Single-member or multi member body Accountability of CAG Non-disclosure of its reports  Expertise: New tools, business, and in other roles like industries etc, it lacks expertise Archaic thinking: it has not change itself as per the new business techniques eg. Telecom Audits
Appointment	At the discretion of Executive Elsewhere consultative process Australia : subject to approval of PAC US : subject to confirmation by Senate UK : through resolution followed by an agreement between PM and chairperson PAC Should be appointed by collegium system   (PM. LoP. CJI) Generalist vs Specialist :  Generally appointed an IAS officer Conflict of interest Lack of expertise and knowledge Qualification: not given in constituents
Single member body	No comparative study done on multi-member body Most countries follow single member body
Propriety  Audit	For Tax payer's money: Better scrutiny Major Frauds : can only be unearthed by it like 2G scam Can be seen as extended powers Against Context: may not be able to comprehend leading to abrupt estimation Knowledge: limited about policy and administration Invasive audit: affect decision-making power overreaching the administrative domains of the executive  Differentiation: Bonafide mistake and malafide intentions APPLEBY's Criticism Admintration and auditing are two different things. CAG do not know much about the problems Conclusion Role of Audit: improving governance rather than fault finding Internal Audit: Should be made better quality improvement can improve the relationship Watchdog not blood hound
Power and capacity	Understaffed Audit queries: not replied promptly RTI power is Even smaller then an ordinary men No power of civil court
Accountability to Parliament	Benefits Will reduce discretionary powers of CAG, enhance answerability of its actions and ensure its strict adherence to auditing procedures. Expertise to accountability in Parliament Already in US, Australia and UK Concerns CAG will loose independence Overburdening Balance between executive and the legislature will be disturbed Conclusion It is not the Parliament that is supreme, it is the Constitution. CAG already is accountable to constitutional provisions. Making CAG accountable to parliament has apparent benefits but it will undermine the institution's sanctity and independence. It may be allowed that CAG may take part in parliamentary proceedings from time to time and bring its expertise for cases to cases, rather than becoming directly accountable to parliament
New roles and reports	Private: SC has allowed for the audits of Private telecom companies that exploit public assets Private telcos are supposed to pay license fee and spectrum usage charges to the government annually. As per CAG telecom players suppressed revenues through account adjustments Schemes Dept.: Defense Railways
way forward	All India PAC conference - CAG --> independent & part of PAC {UK, Aus} Multimember body to appoint CAG like lokpal , CVC, BIG Data, ML for complex audit Statutory and mandatory Disclosure of all the audit reports  PPP under CAG (Vinod Rai) Access to records to cag on priority Reductive Pricing audit -removing sensitive security detail/ Blackening bfor publishing audit report, Rafael Defect rationale of audit , against economy , efficiency, ethics, equity , not further scrutiny possible , loop hole in anti-corruption efforts Pricing decision - detailed analysis , preserve vital role of cag Legal provision to enlarge the right to information of the CAG Power of civil court