148. Comptroller and Auditor-General of India:
(1) There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India who shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
(2) Every person appointed to be the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the President, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.
(3) The salary and other conditions of service of the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall as may be determined by the Parliament by law and, until they are so determined, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule:
(4) The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall not be eligible for further office either under of Government of India or under the Government of any State after he has ceased to hold his office.
(5) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and of any law made by the Parliament, the conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the administrative powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall be such as may be prescribed by rules made by the President after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(6) The Administrative expenses of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of persons serving in that office, shall be charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.
COMMENTS
A pivotal office in the Government of India is that of Comptroller and Auditor General of India who controls the entire financial system of the government at the Centre as well as at State levels. CAG is the guardian of the public purse. It is his duty to see that no amount is spent out of the Consolidated Fund of India or Contingency Fund of a State without the authority of the appropriate Legislature. He shall be the impartial head of the audit and accounts system of India.
In order to discharge this duty properly and effectively, it is highly essential that this office should be independent of any control of the Executive. The Legislature cannot discharge its function properly unless Legislature is aided by an agency, fully independent of the Executive, who would scrutinize the financial transactions of the Government and bring the results of such scrutiny before the Legislature.
149. Duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General:
The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of any other authority or body as may be prescribed by or under any law made by the Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States as were conferred on or exercisable by the Auditor-General of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution in relation to the accounts of the Dominion of India and of the provinces respectively.
COMMENTS
The CAG report is always subject to scrutiny by the Parliament through the Parliament Sub-committees. One of them, the most important, is known as public Accounts Committee. The Government is allowed to offer its views on the report of the CAG. Then, the views of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee or other Sub-committees are placed for consideration by the Parliament.
It is learnt that CAG is now authorized to do performance audit also, i.e. the CAG can now question the administrative decisions. Already the CAG is to audit and report on the receipts and expenditures of Government companies and other bodies which are substantially financed from the Union or State revenues. CAG has exposed some of the very important corruption scams like 2G spectrum and coal mines allocations by the Government of India.
150. Form of accounts of the Union and of the States:
The accounts of the Union and of the States shall be kept in such form as the President may, on the advice of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, prescribe.
151. Audit reports:
(1) The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India relating to the accounts of the Union shall be submitted to the President, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament.
(2) The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of a State shall be submitted to the Governor of the State, who shall cause them to be laid before the Legislature of the State.
COMMENTS
The audit reports submitted by CAG are subject to scrutiny by the Parliament or the Legislature of the State as the case may be.
(B) The State Executive
152. Definition:
In this Part unless the context otherwise requires, the expression “State” does not include the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
153. Governors of States:
There shall be a Governor for each State:
Provided that nothing in this Article shall prevent the appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States.
COMMENTS
Broadly speaking, the pattern of the Government in the States is the same as that for the Union except in matters in respect of which the Governor of the State is empowered by the Constitution to act in his discretion. The executive power of the State is vested in the Governor and all executive action of the State has to be taken in the name of the Governor.
154. Executive Power of State:
(1) The executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution.
(2) Nothing in this Article shall:
(a) be deemed to transfer to the Governor any functions conferred by any existing law on any other authority;
or
(b) prevent the Parliament or the Legislature of the State from conferring by law functions on any authority subordinate to the Governor.