New Delhi: CAG report commands respect and cannot be brushed aside but it cannot be the final word on an issue, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while noting that the auditor's findings cannot be gospel truth as it is subject to scrutiny by Parliament.
A bench of justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said that CAG's report is always subject to parliamentary debates and it is possible that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) can accept the objection to the report or reject it.
"The CAG's report is always subject to parliamentary debates and it is possible that PAC can accept the ministry's objection to the CAG report or reject the report of the CAG. The CAG, indisputably is an independent constitutional functionary. However, it is for Parliament to decide whether after receiving the report to make its comments on it," the court said.
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10:40 PM, May 09, 2013
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has tabled its report on the Rural Employment Guarantee Act or NREGA, as it was utilised across India. CNN-IBN has accessed the report which says only 30 per cent of 129 lakh works worth over Rs 1.26 lakh crore approved in 14 states were completed. ...
11:49 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: Downplaying CAG's report on the Rural Employment Guarantee Act or NREGA, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that it is a performance and not a financial audit. Ramesh said, "It is CAG's job to find shortcomings and if they don't show, it means they are not doing their job." Ramesh further said that the audit was conducted only after the government requested for it. The clarification comes after...
03:50 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has tabled its report on the Rural Employment Guarantee Act or NREGA, as it was utilised across India. CNN-IBN has accessed the report which says only 30 per cent of 129 lakh works worth over Rs 1.26 lakh crore approved in 14 states were completed. Barely 30 per cent of NREGA works completed, while Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh used only 20...
12:37 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Mumbai: The CAG report on irrigation projects was tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday. The CAG slammed the Maharashtra government over incomplete irrigation projects, saying it has led to cost overruns of around Rs 27,000 crore in a finding that could raise questions on the role of NCP and its leader Ajit Pawar. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which presented its report for the year ending March...
04:31 PM, Apr 18, 2013
New Delhi: The government will "soon" decide on the new CAG and would take a call whether to make it a three-member body at an "appropriate time", Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy has said. "It (name of CAG) will happen soon. The Finance Minister will recommend a candidate to the Prime Minister, who will approve it and send it to the President for announcing," he told...
08:43 PM, Apr 11, 2013
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said government-owned firms in Gujarat granted "undue benefit" to big industrial houses, which resulted in revenue losses worth crores of rupees to the state exchequer. The CAG report, for the year ended March 31, 2012, was tabled on Tuesday in the Gujarat State Assembly. ...
11:04 PM, Apr 02, 2013
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday hit back at Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai after he blamed the government of crony capitalism during a speech at Harvard. Reacting to Rai's speech, Digvijaya said, "If not an accountant, what does he want to be? The Prime Minister? The Constitution has defined the role of the CAG. How will a democracy function if judiciary does the job of the...
02:51 PM, Feb 08, 2013
In a hard-hitting speech, the Comptroller and Auditor General, Vinod Rai, has defended his role. Rai has said that the role of the public auditor cannot be confined only to placing reports in Parliament. During a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School of government, Rai spoke on the various scams in the government. ...
11:30 AM, Feb 08, 2013
The medical arm of the defence services on Friday came in for criticism by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) over "critical shortage" of medical officers which is likely to impact patient care. ...
05:32 PM, Dec 14, 2012
New Delhi: Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and the opposition BJP have slammed the government over the proposal to make the Comptroller and Auditor General a multi-member body, accusing it of trying to suppress the constitutional office. While Kejriwal has said the CAG appointments should be independent and neither the government nor the opposition must have a say in the selection process, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu accused the UPA of trying...
12:21 PM, Nov 12, 2012
New Delhi: The MoS PMO, V Narayanasamy on Sunday said that the media had misquoted him over a remark he made about the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and said that he had never said that the Constitutional body will be made a multi-member body. "I was being interviewed by a PTI correspondent and he asked me a few questions. He never asked me anything about making the CAG...
06:45 PM, Nov 11, 2012
New Delhi: Facing a political storm following CAG reports on alleged scams, the government says it is actively considering a proposal to make the official auditor a multi-member body. Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy says Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has become "more impatient" and he wants that all constitutional bodies to work within their parameters. "It (making CAG a multi-member body) is under...
11:20 AM, Nov 11, 2012
New Delhi: Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai on Wednesday slammed the UPA for its decision-making process, calling it "brazen" and "appalling". Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Guragon on Wednesday, Rai said, "The brazenness with which decisions are being taken is absolutely appalling. Look at the CBI. The CBI is not independent of the Executive. That's why very often everybody writes that the CBI has ...
07:31 PM, Nov 08, 2012
New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday that he intended to work with CAG to erase the impression of adversaries in an attempt to restore trust and confidence in all institutions. Addressing a Comptroller and Auditor (CAG) conference in the national capital, Chidambaram said the official auditor and the government have been cast as adversaries to each other in the aftermath of recent audit findings. "Unfortunately, however, some...
12:08 PM, Oct 09, 2012
New Delhi: Amid an increasing awareness and demand for transparency and accountability in delivery of public services, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday lauded the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in keeping a watch on governance but cautioned against an overreach that could lead to "dissonance" in the system. "I am glad that during the past years, CAG's audit has shifted from routine compliance audit to a more...
07:29 PM, Oct 08, 2012
New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry has termed as "erroneous" the CAG's observations that "undue benefits" were given to operator of the Delhi International Airport. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the auditor's observations on Delhi International Airport (DIAL), the Ministry has told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the process of selection of joint venture partners was completed as per laid-down procedure by observing all relevant guidelines and in accordance...
12:59 PM, Oct 07, 2012
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday clarified his comments against the Comptroller and Auditor General of India saying they were not meant for the Constitutional body, but for the person who currently holds the office. In an interview with IBN 18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, the Congress General Secretary said that one must wait for the CBI reports on the case to come out before jumping to conclusions. Rajdeep Sardesai:...
01:16 PM, Aug 31, 2012
New Delhi: The spectre of corruption has come back to haunt the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government once again with the Comptroller and Auditor General coming down heavily on the Centre for its "flawed" policy on coal blocks allocation, Delhi international airport and power projects. As soon as the three CAG reports were tabled in Parliament on Friday, the Opposition took up the issue vociferously to corner the UPA Government...
03:55 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: Team Anna has reiterated calls for probe into coal blocks allocations after then coal secretary told CNN-IBN that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not push for auctions. The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday ruled out a SIT probe into the coal block allegations as demanded by Team Anna, slamming it for questioning the Prime Minister's integrity, and calling Anna Hazare and his coterie "anti-national". In a strongly worded...
07:34 AM, Jun 10, 2012
