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Question 53 of 60 · Constitutional & Statutory Bodies
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The administrative head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department is the:

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Answer: Option A — Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Detailed Solution

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the guardian of the public purse.

Constitutional provisions:

  • Article 148 provides for an independent office of the CAG.
  • The CAG is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
  • He can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Duties and powers (Articles 149 to 151):

  • Auditing all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of each state, and of Union territories having a legislature.
  • Auditing expenditure from the Contingency Funds and Public Accounts of the Centre and states.
  • Auditing the receipts and expenditure of government companies and bodies substantially financed by the government.
  • Submitting audit reports on the accounts of the Union to the President, who lays them before Parliament, and on the accounts of a state to the Governor, who lays them before the state legislature.
  • Acting as a guide, friend and philosopher of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

Types of audit:

  • Legal and regulatory audit (whether money was spent according to law and rules).
  • Propriety audit (whether spending was wise, faithful and economical), which is discretionary.
  • Performance audit.

Accounts:

  • Earlier, the CAG compiled the accounts of both the Centre and the states.
  • In 1976, the compilation of central accounts was separated from audit and given to the Controller General of Accounts under the Ministry of Finance.

Legal framework:

The CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 lays down his duties.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's view:

He said that the CAG would be the most important officer under the Constitution, even more important than the judiciary.

Famous reports:

CAG reports on the 2G spectrum allocation and coal block allocation led to major political debates.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗The Finance Secretary and the Chief Economic Adviser are officials of the Finance Ministry.
  • ✗The Controller General of Accounts compiles central accounts.

Quick tip

Remember: CAG = head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (Article 148); "guardian of the public purse".

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Constitutional & Statutory Bodies — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Constitutional & Statutory Bodies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers bodies set up under the Constitution, such as the Election Commission, UPSC, Finance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and the national commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and statutory or executive bodies such as NITI Aayog, the NHRC, the CVC, the CBI and Lokpal. Questions often ask whether a body is constitutional or not, which article creates it, who appoints its head and for how long. For example, the CAG is appointed under Article 148, the Finance Commission under Article 280, and NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 by an executive resolution. Practise the constitutional and statutory bodies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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