Comptroller and Auditor General

According to Article 148 of the Indian Constitution, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the country’s top auditing body. They have the authority to examine all monies received and spent by the Indian and state governments, as well as any autonomous organizations and businesses that get significant government funding. In addition, the CAG performs additional audits of government-owned firms and enterprises in which the government owns at least 51 percent of the stock or those that are subsidiaries of other government-owned corporations. The Lokpal’s statutory auditor is also the CAG.

The Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and Committees on Public Undertakings (COPUs), which are special committees in the Parliament of India and the state legislatures, receive the reports of the CAG and take them up for consideration. The Indian Audit and Accounts Department, whose activities are administered by officials of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, reports to the CAG and employs 43,576 people nationwide (as of 01.03.2020).

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 was passed by the national government in 1971. CAG was released from its accounting duties in 1976. The establishment of the CAG of India is covered under Articles 148 to 151 of the Indian Constitution.

In terms of precedent, the CAG is placed ninth and has the same authority as a sitting Supreme Court of India judge. The current CAG of India is G. C. Murmu, a former lieutenant governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. On August 8, 2020, he was inaugurated. He is India’s 14th CAG.