Comptroller and Auditor General

4.1 Constitutional Position

Article 148 creates the CAG as an independent constitutional authority. The Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 governs the CAG's functions.

Key features of independence:

• Appointed by President; removed only like a Supreme Court judge.
• Salary charged to Consolidated Fund of India (not subject to vote).
• Cannot take any other office after retirement.
• Has own secretariat; staff are members of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS).

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly: "The CAG is the most important officer under our Constitution."

4.2 Audit Functions

Type	What it Checks	Example
Regularity audit	Spending per rules/law	Was MGNREGS money spent as authorised?
Appropriation audit	Match Parliament grants	Did defence spend match voted amounts?
Propriety audit	Prudence, not just legality	Was money spent wisely?
Performance audit	Outcomes achieved	Did PM Awas Yojana meet housing targets?
Commercial audit	PSUs and corporations	Railways, ONGC, Air India accounts

CAG's Reports → placed before President → President lays before Parliament → examined by Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (15 Lok Sabha + 7 Rajya Sabha members; always chaired by opposition MP by convention since 1967).

4.3 CAG's Constitutional Limitations

• The CAG cannot control expenditure before it is made (unlike the UK Comptroller and Auditor General); it is largely a post-audit authority.
• CAG reports on policy outcomes but cannot overrule policy decisions.
• The CAG has no direct enforcement power — implementation of PAC recommendations depends on government goodwill.
• 2G Spectrum and Coalgate (2012): CAG reports on presumptive loss triggered major political controversy; critics argue CAG overstepped by computing "opportunity cost" as "loss."

---