RAS question
CAG holds office for:
Correct answer: (C) 6 years or age 65, whichever is earlier.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India holds office for six years from assuming office, or until attaining 65 years of age, whichever comes earlier.
Explanation
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India page reproduces the Comptroller and Auditor-General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. Under the Term of Office section, the CAG holds office for six years from the date of assuming office. The proviso makes that tenure subject to an age cap: if the CAG reaches 65 before completing six years, the office is vacated on that date. That is why the exam answer combines both limits instead of choosing a bare age or a bare year count. A key removal safeguard is that the CAG is removed like a Supreme Court judge, not at ordinary executive pleasure.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Age 62 is wrong because the cited Act sets the relevant age limit at 65, and even that age limit operates alongside the six-year term.
- (B) Five years is wrong because the Term of Office provision states six years from the date of assuming office, subject to the 65-year age cap.
- (D) President's pleasure is wrong because the office has a fixed statutory tenure and removal follows the Supreme Court judge model.
Concept
This tests the constitutional offices part of Indian polity, especially tenure and independence safeguards for accountability institutions. RAS repeatedly asks such fixed-term details because they distinguish constitutional authorities from offices held at executive pleasure.