Previous Year Question

The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) was created by the Constitution itself. Article 148 expressly provides that there shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. Therefore, the office is not a creation of an ordinary Act of Parliament or a Cabinet Resolution; it is a constitutional office.

Under Article 148, the CAG is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal. The CAG can be removed from office in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court, an important safeguard for the institutional independence of the office.

An important examination distinction is that the Constitution created the office of CAG, whereas Parliament enacted the CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 to elaborate its duties, powers and service conditions. Thus, the 1971 Act did not create the office; it legally specifies the functions and powers of an already existing constitutional authority.

Article 149 deals with the duties and powers of the CAG. Under Article 150, the form in which the accounts of the Union and the States are kept is prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG. Under Article 151, Union audit reports are submitted to the President and State audit reports to the Governor, who cause them to be laid before the respective legislatures.

Thus, the core distinction is—Office → Constitution; detailed duties and powers → Parliamentary law.