संवैधानिक व्यवस्था

Article 149 of the Constitution of India envisages that CAG shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States and of any other authority or body as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament. Article 151 envisages that the reports of the CAG 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 and that the reports relating to the accounts of a State shall be submitted to the Governor, who shall cause them to be laid before the Legislature of the State. Additionally, Article 279 envisages that ‘net proceeds’ in relation to any tax or duty means the proceeds thereof reduced by the cost of collection and that the net proceeds of any tax or duty, or of any part of any tax or duty, in or attributable to any area shall be ascertained and certified by the CAG, whose certificate shall be final. Further, the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India also envisages audit of accounts of District and Regional Councils of autonomous regions.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) who is the head of Supreme Audit Institution of India (SAI India) discharges his constitutional functions through the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. The Constitution of India provides for the Comptroller and Auditor General of India who is appointed by the President of India by warrant under his hand and seal. The Constitution provides that the salary and other conditions of service as well as the duties and powers of CAG may be determined by Parliament by law. In pursuance of these provisions, the Parliament enacted the CAG’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 (DPC Act) to determine the conditions of service of the CAG and to prescribe his duties and powers. In exercise of powers conferred by the DPC Act, as amended from time to time, the CAG framed the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007, which provide the overarching governance framework for both accounting and auditing functions. The CAG’s Auditing Standards constitute the next layer of the audit governance framework and set out the professional standards of auditing for the organisation as well as for its personnel - the individual auditors. As an ongoing initiative for continuous improvement and benchmarking, these standards are periodically reviewed, restructured and updated.