http://www.thestatesman.net/
PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh’s criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India for holding a press conference in January last after its report on 2G spectrum irregularities was tabled in Parliament only exposes his unfamiliarity with this vital constitutional institution which still commands the trust and respect of a vast majority of the people of the country. In his interaction with a select group of editors last Thursday, Dr Singh said that never in the past had the CAG held a press conference and commented on policy issues. It should limit the office to the role defined in the Constitution, he said. The Constitution does not restrain the CAG from meeting the press. Briefing the media on the contents of the CAG reports after presenting them in Parliament or in the relevant State legislatures has been the established practice. When this practice was challenged by PG Narayanan, an AIADMK member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2005, claiming the CAG had misused his authority by going to the press on an audit report inconvenient to the State government headed by his party, the Madras High Court upheld the right of the CAG and its functionaries to brief the media on the contents of reports prepared by them and presented before the legislature. It would seem the Prime Minister would rather gag the CAG so that the misdeeds of the government are hidden from the public.
A notable feature of the administrative arrangement envisaged by the Constitution is the strict control over financial matters of the government. When the draft Articles 149, 150 and 151 dealing with the Auditor-General of India came up for consideration before the Constituent Assembly on 30 May, 1949, TT Krishnamachari sought to change the designation of the Auditor-General to Comptroller and Auditor-General because the duties of his office were not merely of audit but also of exercising control over government spending. He also sought a provision that before entering his office the CAG should take an oath similar to that taken by the judges of the Supreme Court. BR Ambedkar said the CAG should be regarded as the most important dignitary or officer in the Constitution. His duties were more important than even those of the judiciary. Ambedkar pointed out the incongruity of letting the executive make rules regarding the duties of the CAG who is supposed to control the executive with regard to the administration of finances and hoped that a future Parliament would take the earliest opportunity to replace those rules by a parliamentary statue. That, alas, is yet to be done. The lame excuse of the lame duck Prime Minister that “we take decisions in a world of uncertainty and that is the perspective Parliament, CAG and our media must adopt if this nation is to move forward” is a sure recipe to move backward. Manmohan Singh should realise the people exercised their franchise in an environment of “uncertainty” and voted for the UPA hoping it would deliver, only to find post facto that its government not only failed to deliver but turned out to be the most corrupt since independence.
PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh’s criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India for holding a press conference in January last after its report on 2G spectrum irregularities was tabled in Parliament only exposes his unfamiliarity with this vital constitutional institution which still commands the trust and respect of a vast majority of the people of the country. In his interaction with a select group of editors last Thursday, Dr Singh said that never in the past had the CAG held a press conference and commented on policy issues. It should limit the office to the role defined in the Constitution, he said. The Constitution does not restrain the CAG from meeting the press. Briefing the media on the contents of the CAG reports after presenting them in Parliament or in the relevant State legislatures has been the established practice. When this practice was challenged by PG Narayanan, an AIADMK member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2005, claiming the CAG had misused his authority by going to the press on an audit report inconvenient to the State government headed by his party, the Madras High Court upheld the right of the CAG and its functionaries to brief the media on the contents of reports prepared by them and presented before the legislature. It would seem the Prime Minister would rather gag the CAG so that the misdeeds of the government are hidden from the public.
A notable feature of the administrative arrangement envisaged by the Constitution is the strict control over financial matters of the government. When the draft Articles 149, 150 and 151 dealing with the Auditor-General of India came up for consideration before the Constituent Assembly on 30 May, 1949, TT Krishnamachari sought to change the designation of the Auditor-General to Comptroller and Auditor-General because the duties of his office were not merely of audit but also of exercising control over government spending. He also sought a provision that before entering his office the CAG should take an oath similar to that taken by the judges of the Supreme Court. BR Ambedkar said the CAG should be regarded as the most important dignitary or officer in the Constitution. His duties were more important than even those of the judiciary. Ambedkar pointed out the incongruity of letting the executive make rules regarding the duties of the CAG who is supposed to control the executive with regard to the administration of finances and hoped that a future Parliament would take the earliest opportunity to replace those rules by a parliamentary statue. That, alas, is yet to be done. The lame excuse of the lame duck Prime Minister that “we take decisions in a world of uncertainty and that is the perspective Parliament, CAG and our media must adopt if this nation is to move forward” is a sure recipe to move backward. Manmohan Singh should realise the people exercised their franchise in an environment of “uncertainty” and voted for the UPA hoping it would deliver, only to find post facto that its government not only failed to deliver but turned out to be the most corrupt since independence.
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