In a potentially controversial move, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament could recommend legislative changes, including a Constitutional amendment, to make the Comptroller and Auditor General accountable to Parliament.
“During the 15th Lok Sabha, a suggestion was made by the then PAC that the Committee should be consulted before the appointment of the CAG and it should be part of the legislature like in the U.K. and Australia,” BJP MP and PAC member Nishikant Dubey said on Wednesday.
Mr. Dubey heads the newly formed sub-committee to finalise the recommendations of a two-day meeting of the PACs of Parliament and state legislatures. The meeting was held after a gap of over 14 years. “CAG should also be answerable to someone,” Mr. Dubey said, adding that the committee was likely to recommend amending the 1971 Act that governs the CAG. “Parliament is supreme.”
PAC Chairman K.V. Thomas said that the suggestion had come up during the meeting and the sub-committee would now give it final shape.
Mr. Dubey said the PAC would make its recommendations to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Prime Minister and the President before the term of the current PAC ends on March 31, 2016.
The PAC’s move, experts say, is likely to spark a debate on the Constitutional guarantees and autonomy provided to the CAG.
“Parliamentarians have always held that Parliament is supreme. But, actually it is the Constitution that is supreme. The CAG is meant to be autonomous according to the Constitution. Tomorrow they may want the Election Commission to report to Parliament,” a former CAG of India who did not wish to be named, told The Hindu .
