Comptroller and Auditor General of India भारत के नियंत्रक-महालेखापरीक्षक
Incumbent Vinod Rai since 7 January 2008
Nominator	Prime Minister of India
Appointer	President of India
Term length	6 yrs or up to 65 yrs of age (whichever is earlier)
Inaugural holder	V. Narahari Rao
Salary	90,000 (US$1,600)[1][2]
Website	The Comptroller and Auditor General of India

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India (Hindi: भारत के नियंत्रक-महालेखापरीक्षक) is an authority, established by the Constitution of India under Chapter V, who audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The CAG is also the external auditor of government-owned companies. The reports of the CAG are taken into consideration by the Public Accounts Committees, which are special committees in the Parliament of India and the state legislatures. The CAG is also the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, which has over 58,000 employees across the country.

The CAG is mentioned in the Constitution of India under Article 148 – 151.

The CAG is ranked 10th and enjoys the same status as a judge of Supreme Court of India in Indian order of precedence. The current CAG of India is Vinod Rai, who was appointed on 7 January 2008. He is the 11th CAG of India and Nationalist.

Recently the CAG under Vinod Rai has constantly been in the limelight for its reports exposing mega corruption, particularly in 2G spectrum scam, CWG scam and Coal mining scam.^[3][4]

Appointment []

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India is appointed by the President of India^[5] following a recommendation by the Prime Minister. On appointment, he/she has to make an oath or affirmation before the President of India.

Oath or affirmation []

I, _______, having been appointed Comptroller and Auditor-General of India do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws.

— Constitution of India, Third Schedule, Part IV

Recent Achievements []

Recently the CAG under Vinod Rai has constantly been in the limelight for its reports exposing mega corruption, particularly in 2G Spectrum Scam, Commonwealth Games scam and other scams.

Suggested reforms []

In June 2012, Lal Krishna Advani a veteran Indian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of India (as well as former Leader of the Opposition in Indian Parliament)^[6] suggested that CAG's appointment should be made by a bipartisan collegium consisting of the prime minister, the Chief Justice, the Law Minister and the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.^[7][8] Subsequently, M Karunanidhi, the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party and five times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu^[9] supported the suggestion. Advani made this demand to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness because, according to him, the current system was open to "manipulation and partisanship".^[7][8] Similar demand was made by many former CEC's such as B B Tandon, N Gopalaswamy and S Y Quraishi,^[10] however the government did not seem too keen.^[11] CPI MP GURUDAS DASGUPTA wrote a letter to The PM and demand CAG has appointed by the collegium of consisting the PM,the CJI and the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha but The PM Declined it.former CAG V. K. Shunglu has suggested in its CWG scam report that THE CAG has made a multimember body.PMO minister V.Narayanasamy in his interview with PTI said govt. is considering the shunglu panel report.but PM and Finance Minister declined it.Later V. Narayanasamy said he misquoted but PTI reaffirmed it.

Compensation []

The salary and other conditions of service of the CAG are determined by the Parliament of India through "The Comptroller and Auditor-General's (Duties, Power and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971". As per the act, his salary is the same as salary of a Judge of Supreme Court of India.^[1] Neither his salary nor rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement can be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. The CAG is not eligible for further office either under the Government of India or under the Government of any State after he has ceased to hold his office. These provisions are in order to ensure the independence of CAG.^[2][12]

Salary of CAG

Date	Salary
1 January 2006	90,000 (US$1,600)[1][13]

Removal []

The CAG shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Indian Audits and Accounts Service []

The Constitution of India [Article 148] provides for an independent office to the CAG of India. He/she was the head of Indian Audit and Accounts Department. His/her duty is to uphold the constitution of India and laws of the Parliament in the field of financial administration.

Scope of audits []

Audit of government accounts (including the accounts of the state governments) in India is entrusted to the CAG of India who is empowered to audit all expenditure from the revenues of the union or state governments, whether incurred within India or outside. Specifically, audits include:

• Transactions relating to debt, deposits, remittances, Trading, and manufacturing
• Profit and loss accounts and balance sheets kept under the order of the President or Governors
• Receipts and stock accounts.CAG also audits the books of accounts of the government companies as per companies act.

In addition, the CAG also executes performance and compliance audits of various functions and departments of the government. Recently, the CAG as a part of thematic review on "Introduction of New Trains" is deputing an auditors' team on selected trains, originating and terminating at Sealdah and Howrah stations, to assess the necessity of their introduction.^[15]

CAG has been appointed as external auditor of three major UN organisations: the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and World Food Organisation(WFO).

Present CAG, Vinod Rai has been elected the Chairman of the United Nations' panel of external auditors.^[16][17]

Rebecca Mathai, is an Indian who is presently the External Auditor of UN organisation World Food Programme(WFP) Headquartered at Rome, Italy.

Prominent audit reports []

Following are some of the most debated CAG reports:

2G Spectrum allocation []

A CAG report on issue of Licences and Allocation of 2G Spectrum resulted in a huge controversy. The report estimated that there was a presumptive loss of 1766.45 billion(s) (US$32 billion).^[18] In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the agency pegged the loss at 309845.5 million(s) (US$5.7 billion)^[19]

All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme Court of India on a public interest litigation (PIL) declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja (then minister for communications & IT) the main accused.^[20] The court further said that A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away important national asset".^[21]

Revenue loss calculation was further established on 3 August 2012 when according to the directions of the Supreme Court, Govt of India revised the reserve price for 2G spectrum to 140 billion(s) (US$2.6 billion)^[22][23]

Coal Mine Allocation []

A 2012 CAG report Coal Mine Allocation received massive media and political reaction as well as public outrage. During the 2012 monsoon session of the Parliament, the BJP protested the Government's handling of the issue demanding the resignation of the prime minister and refused to have a debate in the Parliament. The deadlock resulted in Parliament functioning only seven of the twenty days of the session.^[24][25]

The CAG report criticised the Government by saying it had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to.^[26] As a result, both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. In its draft report in March the CAG estimated that the "windfall gain" to the allocatees was 10673.03 billion(s) (US$200 billion).^[26] The CAG Final Report tabled in Parliament put the figure at 1855.91 billion(s) (US$34 billion)^[27]

While the initial CAG report suggested that coal blocks could have been allocated more efficiently, resulting in more revenue to the government, at no point did it suggest that corruption was involved in the allocation of coal. Over the course of 2012, however, the question of corruption came to dominate the discussion. In response to a complaint by the BJP, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directed the CBI to investigate the matter. The CBI named a dozen Indian firms in a First Information Report (FIR), the first step in a criminal investigation. These FIRs accuse them of overstating their net worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations.^[28][29] The CBI officials investigating the case have speculated that bribery may be involved.^[28]

Fodder scam []

The scandal was first exposed due to the CAG report in the matter in December 1995. The report alleged of fraudulent withdrawal of government funds worth 9.5 billion(s) (US$170 million) in the Bihar animal husbandary department against non-existent supplies of fodder and medicines.^[30] Subsequently, based on Patna High Court's orders, CBI investigated the case and registered as many as 63 cases. Many accused have been convicted while many cases are still under trial^[31]

List of Comptroller and Auditors General of India []

Source:^[32]

References []

External links []

• "Official website of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India". Retrieved 19 January 2009.
• Reports by Comptroller and Auditor General of India

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