Comptroller and Auditor General of India

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The Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD) is the Supreme Audit Institution of India, set up over 150 years ago in 1860. In the Indian polity, the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (also known as the Supreme Audit Institution in the international context) are an instrument for ensuring accountability. The Constitution of India has mandated them as the auditors to the nation. In a democracy, those holding power and positions of responsibility must be answerable for their action. The democratic state has a “Social Contract” with the citizens and functions on behalf of the people. To ensure that this contract is respected, a democracy provides for several institutional mechanisms like the Judiciary, Vigilance bodies and an independent Supreme Audit Institution (SAI). The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IAAD) functioning under him, constitute the Supreme Audit
Institution of India. Senior functionaries of the SAI representing the CAG
in the states are called Accountants General. In the Indian system of governance, the policies set by the Parliament and State Legislatures give the goals to be achieved through public spending. These policies are translated into programmes and implemented by various departments of the government. For this, the Parliament sanctions the budget which prescribes how Government will collect money through taxes and how much and for which purposes it shall spend. There are also financial rules which the Government departments and other public bodies must follow when they receive and spend public money. The spending departments are accountable to the Parliament for both the quantity and quality of their expenditure. Articles 148 to 151 of the Constitution prescribe a unique role for the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in assisting the Parliament to enforce the said accountability of the Government departments. The SAI of India audits both Central and State Governments and also maintains the accounts of the State Governments.