The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai, said on Wednesday there was no pressure from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to expedite the process of preparing the audit report on the allocation of 2G spectrum licences. The CAG also stated at no stage were the audit reports shared with the PAC.
“There was no pressure from any quarter on this department with regard to the audit. The CAG has always taken a very stern view of any attempts of pressure or interference in the discharge of his constitutional duties and functions,” said a statement from the CAG office.
The clarification came after reports suggested PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi had contacted an official in the CAG and asked him to expedite the audit process. The reports were based on a letter written by CAG official R B Sinha to Deputy CAG Rekha Gupta, informing her of Joshi’s phone call. Joshi reportedly said he was under pressure from Parliamentarians and the media to expedite the audit report.
MORE REFORMS
Meanwhile, at a function to mark the 150th anniversary of the institution of an independent audit office in the Government of India, Rai urged the government to push for reforms in the working of the CAG. Addressing finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was the chief guest at the function, Rai said the present mandate of the CAG was proving to be “inadequate”.
“We made a presentation to you around October 2009, indicating how the mandate of 1971 was proving inadequate to cover schemes being implemented through newer models of the government… Hence, the requirement for updating the mandate is a felt need of the times,” Rai said.
Rai’s demand was supplemented by Joshi. “It’s about time that the old Act of 1971 was revised and the CAG given more powers to audit,” Joshi said.
Mukherjee said, “The government is also working on proposals for amendments to the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971, that will make the institution of the CAG more effective in dealing with the new mechanisms of administration. We have to ensure compliance with relevant rules and regulations, while ensuring better delivery of public services to our citizens and securing inclusive growth.”
He said an institution such as the CAG, which had the benefit of hindsight while reviewing a decision of the government, should be cautious in determining “malafide intent” from “bonafide errors of judgment or divergent opinions on policy options”.
