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The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is one of the Constitutional Authorities in India,established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. He is empowered to Audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India,the State Governments,local bodies including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the Government of India.Moreover, the CAG, in its present structure has evolved through Synthesis of various histories underlined in the context of Financial Administration, it has also kept pace with technological advancements and innovations in auditing with its peer institutions in other leading democracies in the world.Interestingly,the post liberalization phase in India offered challanging avenues before the institution. Against this backdrop,the plethora of challenges have been dealt with at the right earnest by the said authority,especially in the Information-Technology driven environment..The present paper is driven to analyze and evaluate the journey of the statement being made by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar during the Constituent Assembly debate; the CAG being the most important Officer under the Constitution of India and he is one of the bulwarks of the democratic system of government of India.

1. To study the wisdom of CAG in dealing with the challenges of good governance vis-a-vis the fiscal federalism in India 2. To evaluate the role of CAG (As a success), in ensuring sound financial administration; the Constitutional mandate. 3. To examine the mandate of CAG to hold the government financially accountable to the legislature.

Ram Naresh Sharma, Shashi Bhushan Kumar (2018). The Research Article ''C&AG of India: An Instrument to Enhance Accountability, Probity and Good Governance'', has made critical evaluation of the overall institution of CAG in general, and its appointment process in particular. The Institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of India as has been envisaged in the constitution is a regulatory authority that is to assist the Central and State legislatures. It submits a timely performance and compliance audit of the expenditure made by the concerned governments, examining whether the funds earmarked and approved for the purposes by the legislature have been utilized properly. It is an essential instrument to enforce accountability of executive to legislature by presenting fair and proper audit so that any fraud and embezzlement can be detected, and thereby probity and good governance can be ensured. This can really be possible when the appointment of the CAG will be constitutionally impartial and independent from the executive and legislative with an element of non-interference by the latter. Govind Bhattacharjee (2017). As per the evidence presented within the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and studies elsewhere ''MGNREGA as Distribution of Dole,11 years of the ambitious scheme by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act have been unable to bring qualitative transformation in rural population. This article does presents many innovative ways to help ameliorate the outcome of this scheme. Thus, the article proved to be an attempt to streamline the said scheme with new orientations so as to make considerable impact on the targeted individuals. Kaushal Nandita (2019). ''An estimation of the comptroller and auditor general of India as supreme audit authority of India''. The article has made an in depth account of Audit Institutions within the nation building processes. The government of each nation incorporates a moral mandate to undertake all sorts of activities for that finance is essential. The government has to follow judicious financial management policies and practices. The Government of India follows the complete gamut of monetary management activities, having three broad facets namely budgeting, accounting and auditing, during a fiscal year. Audit plays a pivotal role within the financial management system. There is an intensive audit machinery at the highest level of which is the institution of the Comptroller and Auditor General in India, a British legacy, having constitutional status. He''s the chief audit authority of the country. As an official within the Constitution, his role is that of a watchdog. His intensive auditing has brought to light a number of financial asymmetries. Through his audit reports he is surely contributing for improving the state of fiscal management in the country but several issues remain mostly unexamined which act as defiances before the audit. B.P. Mathur (2018). The article ''The Comptroller and Auditor General: Reform the Institution to Enforce Government’s Accountability'', mentions as an institution as has been envisaged in the Constitution for enforcing the accountability of the executive and as a watchdog that public money is used with due regard to wisdom, faithfulness and economy. To perform the work perfectly, there needs to be a fundamental restructuring of its organizational structure, which is an inheritance from the British. it is a need of the hour to convert it into a multi-member audit commission at the top level and strengthen the position of State Accountants General, who conduct the audit of state government businesses, by giving them statutory recognition and more autonomy. To instill public confidence in the incumbent top office of CAG, there needs for transparency in his appointment and only a professional of proven competence should be appointed to the said post. The government should also recognize the major role that the CAG can play in effective management of national finances and good governance. Virek Aggarwal (2013). The Article is titled ‘CAG: A Boon For Corrupt Practices In India’ as the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has played an eminent role in curing the evils that survive in the rule formulating bodies and in preventing the Indian economy from being ruined by the unscrupulous politicians. Corruption, the root cause of many failures of the government policies, has been brought into notice of the layman of India by the persistent efforts of the CAG. Judiciary has relied at many occasions on the reports of CAG to question the failure of policies and deviations from the goal of public interest by different sectors and departments of central and state governments. Indubitably this constitutional body has played an important role in checking corruption in India, till today , as is evidenced in the article in its regulatory, environmental, and recommendatory function. However, the powers of the CAG need to be enhanced at the backdrop of growing instances of corruption , also many suggestions have been made at the end. Ronojoy Sen (2013). ''Going Beyond Mere Accounting: The Changing Role of the CAG''. In this article he says'' one of the architects of the Indian Constitution and Independent India's first law minister, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar had no doubts about the significance of the CAG office. While speaking about the CAG, he said during the Constituent Assembly (1946-49) debates, This officer is probably the most important officer in the Constitution of India ...and also the duties...are far more important than the duties even that of Judiciary-he should have been certainly as independent as the judiciary. Dr. K. Sivananda Kumar (2020). ''Article 148 – Comptroller and Auditor-General of India''. The said article has dealt with the constitutional provisions related to the institution of CAG in an inquisitive way. This is an attempt to do away with the vagueness of understanding the jurisdictions of the Executive and that of the CAG, I.e., to minimize the variances between the two. D Kapur and P B Mehta. (2007). This book ''Public Institutions in India: Performance and Design'', is an analytical study of India's public institutions. Its content ranges from the Parliament, the President's office , the Supreme Court, and that of the Comptroller and Auditor General. This text also asserts the constitutional and legal bases of the aforesaid institutions, their interrelationships and their mandate. S. L. Shankdhar (1958). ''Comptroller & Auditor-General of India and the U.K.—A Comparison'' The article is based on the writer's first-hand knowledge of the working of the Public Accounts Committee in India and on the discussions which he had in London some years ago with Sir Frank Tribe, the Comptroller and Auditor General of the UK. It draws parallels between the Auditor General of England to that of India, and has made some interesting observations. Laxmi Narain (1963). ''The Comptroller and Auditor-General and Public Enterprises in India''.The said article reads Audit as one of the important instruments of control and accountability, and more so when put in the hands in an important public authority -the Comptroller and Auditor-General hereinafter referred to as the C. & A.G. This article aims at discussing the nature and effectiveness of this method of control. The prevalent legal provisions in this scenario, in their historical perspective, are described at the first. B. P. Mathur. (2006). ''Audit Reports on Disinvestment''. The article has revealed certain internal nuisances related to the delayed audit reports on disinvestment of public sector undertakings during 1999-2003, submitted by the CAG, put up numerous key issues pertaining to the modus operandi of deliberate sale and several technical and methodological issues.

Structural Evolution of the CAG

The Constitution has installed the CAG as a high independent Statutory authority. The constitutional authority of the  CAG furnish an important linkage  between the Executive organ of the government on the one hand and the Parliament and the people on the other. It alone subjects the operations of the Executive to regular, independent investigation and review, thereby providing credibility to government operations' as the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, and Guardian of Public Purse. 

CAG derives its audit mandate from different sources, viz... 
 A) The Constitution of India (Article 148 to 151). 
 B) The CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Services) Act,1971 
 C) The judgements of the Supreme Court of India  
 D) Regulations on Audit and Accounts,2007 & 2020
 E) Conventions and Precedents and the Practices of CAGs of other democratic countries  
 F) The Instructions of the Government of India. 

CAG audits the accounts related to all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, Consolidated Fund of each State and UTs having a Legislative Assembly along with auditing the expenditure incurred  from the Contingency Fund of India along with the Public Account of India and that of each state concerned. 

In addition, he audits the receipts and expenditure of all bodies and authorities substantially financed from the Central or State revenues and advises the President with regard to the prescription of the form in which the accounts of the Center and States shall be kept. He submits his audit reports relating to the accounts of the Center to the President, who shall, in turn, place them before the Parliament. It is well expected from the CAG to  act as a guide, a friend and as a true philosopher of the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament, assisting them as the same for better policy formulations.

As far as the auditing authority of the CAG is concerned, the Supreme Court in Arvind Gupta vs. Union of India case,2013 held that ''CAG report by itself can be accepted by the Court to grant relief or as a basis for initiating action. The Court also held that CAG's report is always subject to scrutiny by the  Parliament and the government can always offer its view on the report of the CAG.  

Specifically, the Constitution of India has accorded a high rank (equal position to that of a Judge of the Supreme Court) in the Official Warrant of Precedence. The office of CAG has been provided with an oath or affirmation before the President, which itself narrates the unique feature of the same. 

 Post Independence :The Nascent Stage

Government auditing in India has a long and illustrious history dating back to the middle of the 19^th Century. However, in post-independent India, especially after the Constitution coming into force in 1950, government audit in India acquired a new dimension within the constitutionally stipulated framework. The Constitution provided a uniform pattern of accounts for both the Union and the States to be prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG. 

Moreover, since 1950 there have been numerous changes and reforms in the system of accounting and auditing and in the organization of the Department. Apart from the enactment of the Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act,1971 and significant amendments carried out in 1976,1984 and 1987, a number of other significant developments in accounting and audit systems have taken place. Of these, the departmentalization of accounts of the Union in 1976, and the restructuring of the offices of the State Accountants General in 1984, thus making for an internal specialization in accounting and audit functions in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department are particularly noteworthy. 

However, the CAG Report of T.N Chaturvedi (1984-1990) made headlines, and that ultimately culminated into the demise of the then Congress Government headed by Rajiv Gandhi. (Mr. Chaturvedi, while serving as the  CAG,  had prepared  reports on the 1989  irregularities regarding the purchase of Howitzer guns; the famous Bofors gun). 

Against this backdrop, the audit activity registered a qualitative growth with the setting up of Audit Boards that were expected to streamline the changes according to the Act of 1971. Thus, there has been a rapid transformation of the Department in all its functions, accounting, auditing and administration. 

 Post-Liberalization Prospects; Towards Maturity and Experience

The history of the institution of the CAG inevitably intertwined with the political, administrative and socio-economic developments in the country. Amongst the prominent developments were the new comprehensive system of audit planning such as, outsourcing of specific surveys, engagement of experts as consultants in audit work, new evidence gathering technique etc. Moreover, the concept of ''Peer Review '' got operationalized in the Audit Department for the first time. Also, an old branch of auditing viz, Performance Audit also received new vigor but perhaps, the most important development was the emergence and use of IT Audit as a distinct technique of audit that has a profound influence in the present and would have in the future audits.  Additionally, Internal Auditing was given a more prominent role, theme-based and Department-based audits were also introduced by the then CAG. 

 On the face of it, a new improved approach of evaluating the financial and accounting systems of State governments as also Central government was adopted. Finally, the notification of Regulations on Audit and Accounts by CAG, in November 2007 and again in 2020 ranks as another major development which for now, sets out the guiding principles on auditing. 

Interestingly, Vinod Rai (2008-2013), another former CAG described T.N. Chaturvedi as a ''Thorough Professional'', himself has added another feather in the prestige of CAG by setting up a trade mark of Professional Integrity and Discipline. Also, the CAG estimated a loss of Rupees. 1.76 Cr to the national exchequer in the allocation of 2G Spectrum licenses to private players when Manmohan Singh government was in power between (2004-2009). 

Against this backdrop, Audit has often been labeled as being an impediment to accelerated performance. It has also been alleged about CAG being partisan or working in Favour of the government or a political party. But this a farce, as the Constitution envisages the CAG to act as the Custodian of the Public Purse. In the words of Dr. Ambedkar, the CAG is to  play the role of a Vanguard in reporting on financial irregularities, as the most important official of India.

The Spirit of Enquiry, so central to democracy, has to be accepted and institutionalized. The institution of CAG of India, a Constitutional body itself, is designed to be a bulwark against omissions and commissions of the Executives under the supervision of the Legislature. But the way the institution of audit has functioned has not exactly lived up to what the Indian Constitution had in mind while creating the institution. Ironically, Scandals and scams are known even while they are being planned and executed. If audit reports are brought into notice draws to them immediately in a well articulated manner such outrageous wrongdoing can be checked midway. It would be appropriate to say, Postmortems are useful but can only be conducted when the patient is dead. Actually, it is important to analyze the mandate of the CAG afresh, in the light of opportunities and challenges posed before this critical institution. Moreover, the CAG has the mandate to scrutinize transparency in procurement (taking recourse to the 2G Scam, Coal Block Scam, Commonwealth Games Scam,2010 …...), and the way in which things have been done,acting like a watchdog. If a watchdog is not allowed to criticize, then what kind of parliamentary accountability will we ever get? The reports of the CAG are grounded on records and policies of the government that have been tabled before it.The erstwhile authority is not expected to frame an alternative policy, but we must recognize that the CAG can certainly test the existing policy and the manner in which it is being implemented. Certainly the question emerges, whether the government has correctly and in an accountable manner discharged the process of execution. Expectedly,the long-term benefits could be realized if audit and the executive share a cooperative and enterprising relationship; they necessarily should establish a close rapport to encourage interaction without surrendering audit objectivity, independence and integrity of the office. However, in the recent past the office of the CAG has been at the receiving end of a number of comments, sometimes congratulatory, oftentimes scathing.Today,we are facing a testing time in the history of our nation. The quality of governance needs to live up the democratic expectations.i.e., the people's expectations. The CAG needs to look beyond its traditional role, as just being an auditing mechanism. It is not a Munim (Accountant) to go into the balance sheets but a constitutional authority entitled to review and conduct performance audits on revenue allocations relating to the Center, the States and the UTs and examine matters related to the economy and how the government uses its resources. Within the audit mandate, the CAG is the sole authority to decide the scope and extent of audit to be conducted by him or on his behalf. Also, considering the present climate in the Civil Society of holding its government accountable, on this plea, CAG needs to give a thought, whether its mandate is merely to conduct audits, prepare reports, place it in the Parliament and full stop! Unless, we destroy corruption in high places (CAG is one such mechanism to do so), nepotism, which have spoiled the good name of this great country in recent times, we will not succeed in raising the standards of efficiency in administration and in additio the production and distribution of the necessary goods in lives of the citizens.

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