SC junks plea against CAG powers

Constitutional office not munim ji

Asserting that the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG is a constitutional office and not a munim ji or a simple accountant to prepare balance sheets of the government,the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea,which had challenged the CAGs competence to carry out performance audits on various issues,including allocation of coal blocks.

It is a constitutional office under Article 149 of the Constitution. It is not preparation of balance sheet simplicitor. The constitutional office of CAG should not be confused with auditor of a company or a corporation, said a Bench led by Justice R M Lodha as it rejected a petition by one Arvind Gupta to declare CAG reports on coal blocks,ultra mega-power projects and implementation of public- private partnership at IGI Airport in Delhi as void and ultra vires.

Backing the CAG over its constitutionality as an agency to examine all aspects of effectiveness and efficiency of the economic policies,the court underlined that the manner in which the government had allocated its resources would come under the domain of the CAG.

This is within its power to see how the government has allocated its resources. Whether to accept it fully or in part will be Parliaments prerogative when the reports are tabled. Parliament will decide on this coal block allocation but how can it said that CAG has trespassed into organs of other agencies, said Justice Lodha.

The remark came when the petitioners counsel Santosh Paul pointed that CAG report titled as performance audit report on allocation of coal blocks and augmentation of coal production failed to explain who authorised the CAG to conduct a performance audit since it was outside its scope and beyond the constitutional authority given to it.

The Bench,however,told the counsel that CAG reports were to be judged in terms of their contents and merely labelling them as performance audits will not change their nature.

It is a constitutional authority. There is an obligation cast upon it under the constitutional scheme. Will a label take away its power? We dont think so, it said.