|
|
|
|
|
prime concern: CAG By girja shankar kaura The retirement of Vinod Rai as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India would have come as a major relief for the Congress-led UPA coalition government at the Centre. Having created enough trouble for the Centre, with successive Parliament sessions washed out as a result of CAG reports that brought out arguably amazing depths of corruption in official circles, the UPA government would have been glad to see the back of the man, who many believe has done the Seshan act in the highest audit body of the country.
Fifty Fifty |
|
|
|
|
The top audit eye in the storm By girja shankar kaura
The retirement of Vinod Rai as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India would have come as a major relief for the Congress-led UPA coalition government at the Centre. Having created enough trouble for the Centre, with successive Parliament sessions washed out as a result of CAG reports that brought out arguably amazing depths of corruption in official circles, the UPA government would have been glad to see the back of the man, who many believe has done the Seshan act in the highest audit body of the country. That Rai has gone about doing the cleaning job the way T.N. Seshan did as Chief Election Commissioner is the buzz in the political circles. Also that after judicial activism, “CAG activism” is needed for the country, which over the past few years has seen scams of unprecedented scale.
There have been ‘explosive reports’ earlier too, like the one on the fodder scam, but the CAG has never been in such limelight as during Rai’s time. Rai was handpicked by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, but contrary to expectations, Chidambaram found himself on sticky wicket as a result of the audits brought out by Rai. The top auditor of the country triggered the biggest controversy by highlighting a “Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss” in the 2G spectrum allocation”. The CAG also remained in the headlines for having exposed corruption in the Commonwealth Games and the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, besides the claim that the Oil Ministry had favoured Reliance Industries when it allowed one of the world’s top private sector companies to raise the cost of developing the nation’s largest gas fields by 117 per cent. The report on the 2G spectrum allocation, however, brought the CAG under equal fire, as the loss was disputed as “notional”. While the CAG report said there was a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, the CBI, in its charge sheet filed on April 2, 2011, pegged the loss at over Rs 30,000 crore. All speculation on profit, loss and no-loss was put to rest when in February 2012 the Supreme Court, on public interest litigation, declared the allotment of spectrum as “unconstitutional and arbitrary”, and quashed all 122 licences issued in 2008 during the tenure of the main accused, A Raja, then Minister for Communications and IT. A 2012 CAG report on coal mine allocation received massive media and political reaction as well as public outrage. The report criticised the government, saying it had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. As a result, both public sector enterprises and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. It estimated that the “windfall gain” to the beneficiaries was over Rs 1.85 lakh crore. Another report said rules were bent to grant “huge benefits” to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, forcing the latter to hit back, saying “performance audit in the private sector was beyond the scope of powers of the CAG.” He is understood to have told the government that the CAG should restrict its function to the audit of financial documents and ensuring an operator’s adherence to the government and management committee mandate. The office and powers The CAG is a post created by the Constitution to see that the entire executive functions with regard to all financial matters in accordance with the Constitution and the laws and rules framed thereunder. Established under Chapter V of the Constitution, the CAG audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. It is also the external auditor of government-owned companies. The CAG reports are taken into consideration by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a body chaired by a representative from the main Opposition party and consisting of 22 members of both Houses from all parties in proportion to their numbers in Parliament. The CAG is also the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, which has over 58,000 employees across the country. He is appointed for a fixed term of six years (or until 65 years of age, whichever is earlier) by the President, and can be removed only by a two-thirds majority of Parliament. The CAG is ranked ninth and enjoys the same status as a judge of the Supreme Court in the order of precedence. He is empowered to requisition all records of the departments and organisations. He performs financial, compliance and performance audits. In this last role, he is empowered to look at all processes of decision making, and to comment on their impact on governmental finances. The CAG actually acts as the watchdog of the Constitution to protect public funds from misuse. He selects specific departments and projects for audit every year. A CAG report is a very careful analysis of the entire executive process as well as financial transactions by the government departments. The CAG brings out 30-40 audit reports every year, which are prepared by officers after carefully sifting through loads of accounting details. The salary and other conditions of service of the CAG are determined by Parliament through the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s (Duties, Power and Conditions of Service) Act. His salary is the same as that of a Supreme Court Judge. Neither his salary nor rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement can be varied to his disadvantage. He is not eligible for further office either under the Government of India or under the government of any state after he has ceased to hold office. These provisions are incorporated in order to ensure the independence of the CAG. The CAG has no authority, or even mandate, to recommend any particular course of action, whether criminal or otherwise. The CAG report is a report to Parliament and criminal courts cannot take it either as evidence or an FIR. The responsibility of taking corrective action, whether criminal or administrative, rests with the executive on the directions of Parliament and the PAC. Thus, there is no question of the CAG ‘overstepping’ his limits as the controls are always with Parliament. New man in saddle Shashi Kant Sharma, former Defence Secretary, was recently appointed the 12th CAG. His appointment to the office came just days before he was to have retired. In the 40-odd years that he has been in government, the official has not received any award or special recognition. A Bihar cadre IAS officer, Sharma was earlier posted in Banka (Bihar) and Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand. He was District Magistrate of Bhagalpur from 1982 to1985 and Patna in 1990, before being appointed Labour Commissioner in Bihar, a post he held till 1992. He was shifted to Delhi to run the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, and later to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment. Sharma has always skilfully managed to steer clear of any controversy. Twice he approved the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopters for VVIP use, a deal which brought the UPA government to the brink. The CBI is investigating the purchase for alleged kickbacks. He first cleared the purchase in 2003 as the Joint Secretary (Air Acquisition) and then in 2010 as Director-General (DG) of Defence Acquisition. Reports suggest that before demitting office, Rai had prepared the draft report on the AgustaWestland deal and now it is for his successor to prepare the final reports. Hence, many questions have been raised about the propriety in appointing Sharma as the new CAG, as he would be the final authority on the report in which he is the main officer who approved the purchase of the helicopters. Rai had asked the government to give more teeth to the institution responsible for enforcing financial accountability. In 2010, the CAG had asked the UPA government to make three broad-based amendments to the audit Act. He had sought amendment to the speed with which government departments responded to audit requests — to make it 30 days — and a law specifying that governments will table audit reports in the legislature immediately after their submission. Rai also proposed powers to audit new forms of government economic activity that have emerged over the years. The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution have added a layer of decentralised governance, bringing in new channels of expenditure through public-private partnerships and joint ventures, which under the present Act the CAG cannot effectively audit. In June 2012, BJP leader L.K. Advani had suggested that the CAG’s appointment should be made by a bipartisan collegium comprising the Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Law Minister and leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Later, Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI MP, wrote to the Prime Minister demanding that the CAG be appointed by a collegium, but it was declined by the Prime Minister’s Office. While the general impression about Sharma’s appointment has been that the UPA has brought in a “meek” man, the critical importance of the institution was pointed out by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who said the duties of the CAG are even more important than those of the judiciary.
THE OFFICE
FORMER CAG VINOD RAI’S REPORTS THAT KEPT THE UPA GOVT ON ITS TOES
NEW INCUMBENT SHASHI KANT sharma Last position: Defence Secretary Strength: Knows how to avoid landmines in service Weak point: Approved controversial AgustaWestland Indian Air Force chopper deal. He will now sit on judgement on the same documents as CAG. |
|
Fifty Fifty
A ménage à trois is so very French, and there is nothing more farcical than a real-life, high-profile bunch of people revealing their secrets, albeit unwittingly, to a thoroughly amused audience. In an open society, with a vigilant media, the follies of French Presidents have been endlessly discussed — and it now seems like a long running reality show full of sex, politics and vengeance. Not so long ago, we were fed juicy tidbits about the statuesque Carla Bruni and the rather more diminutive Nicholas Sarkozy. This time it is President Francois Hollande who is being pulled and pushed between his former wife, Segolene Royal, and the First Lady, Valerie Trierweiler. Both are feisty, rather outspoken women and President Hollande seems thoroughly overwhelmed by them. Could it be something about the office of the French President that attracts beautiful women and endless gossip? Alas, President Hollande, who appears to be a harmless man, so far has been unable to placate either woman for long, just as he has not had much luck in dealing with the recession or reducing unemployment. Whenever he tries to do something meaningful, the women and their rivalry are back in the news — and he fails to dominate the headlines in any positive fashion. What a lovely plot for a Woody Allen film! Recently, the French public have been agog over a book, called “La Fronduese” (The Troublemaker), which does not paint a very favourable picture of the First Lady, Ms Trierweiler. As is her wont, Ms Trierweiler has not taken this quietly at all. And so she stomped off to court to sue the publishers and asked for damages. But the strategy backfired. The controversy drew even more attention to the book, and the allegedly damning lines about her. The media gleefully fell upon the passages that she had so objected to, and forensically examined them.
According to the book, at the time when Ms Trierweiler was still married to her former husband and fellow journalist, Denis Trierweiler, she was also in a relationship with a centre-right politician, Patrick Devedjian. This complicated life did not apparently stop her from entering into another relationship with the socialist Francois Hollande. The three-way relationship continued, according to the book, till one day she waltzed off with the reticent Hollande. While Ms Trierweiler might (or might not) have demonstrated that her politics does not get in the way of her relationships, she has been awarded some damages. But that unfortunately has not been the end of President Hollande’s troubles. Now feathers are being ruffled by his ex-wife and politician, Segolene Royal, who has been feeling extremely let down that she has not been given a Cabinet post. Naturally, it would be difficult for her to appreciate that President Hollande hasn’t elevated her because he might fear imminent slaughter by an enraged Ms Trierweiler. The latter had made her displeasure of Segolene Royal known quite ferociously during parliamentary elections last year when she publicly backed Ms Royale’s political opponent. Any support shown by President Hollande towards Ms Royale is likely to be misconstrued. Both the women are beautiful, intelligent and elegant — which is why perhaps this particular French drama has a piquant appeal — not only for the French but all around the world. The reality, however, is that their constant battle (even if hyped by the media) has left the President diminished. His nemesis, the ever vigilant Segolene Royal, who was also once the Presidential nominee for the socialists, has now begun to criticise him ever more openly. She does not seem to have forgotten her own presidential ambitions and is making increasingly ominous pronouncements about the unpredictability of politics in which anything is possible. What could this possibly mean? a worried Francois Hollande might well fret every night, lying next to the equally volatile Ms Trierweiler. And he should worry because even though he has appointed Ms Royal vice-chair of the Public Investment Bank, it is obviously not enough. In recent days, Ms Royal has simply stepped up her tirade against her former husband and the father of her four children. Undoubtedly this could be a way of reminding him that he needs to give her that Cabinet position and fast. At this difficult moment, Mr Holland, who has been battling sinking popularity, will definitely hesitate before antagonising the First Lady, lest it leads to another contretemps. Unfortunately for him, Ms Royal does not seem to be ready to give up and will probably persist till she gets what she wants. She is an ambitious woman and why should she allow a mere former husband (and incidentally, French President) get in her way? What do these two women want, anyway? It is a complex situation for all of them. And as this very public triangle with all its political dimensions unravels, all it needs is Woody Allen to now make a far more raunchy and contemporary version of “Midnight in Paris”.  |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Experience: A Bihar cadre IAS officer, 40 years service
