The Comptroller and Auditor-General is not a mere “munim” or accountant but a constitutional authority whose duty is to scrutinise the government’s revenue allocations, the Supreme Court held Monday.
Dismissing a plea challenging the CAG’s power to conduct performance audits of coal mine allocations, a bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and A.R. Dave said it was the CAG’s primary duty to scrutinise use of the country’s resources and it was up to the Parliament to accept or reject its report.
“CAG is not a munimji or accountant... He is a constitutional authority who can examine revenue allocations and matters relating to the economy. Parliament is there to guide and correct the CAG,” the bench said, dismissing a PIL filed by Arvind Gupta, who heads an NGO. The bench brushed aside the petitioner’s argument that the CAG had no mandate to scrutinise policy matters, and noted that Articles 148-151 of the Constitution had comprehensive provisions on the CAG’s powers. Section 16 of the CAG Act 1971 held it was the CAG’s duty to audit all receipts which go into the Consolidated Fund of India or the state exchequer to ensure proper allocations of revenue were made.
“It is thus clear the CAG’s function is to carry out audits on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the government uses resources,” the judges said.