SC to hear PIL for declaring present process of appointment of CAG unconstitutional on Monday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on March 17 an NGO's plea seeking that the current practice of appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India solely by the executive and the prime minister be declared violative of the Constitution.

The PIL, filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, also sought direction of the court mandating that the CAG shall be appointed by the President in consultation with an independent and neutral selection committee comprising of the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and the Chief Justice of India and in a transparent manner.

It said that the direction for appointment of CAG should be similar to the appointment of other bodies including Information Commissions and the Central Vigilance Commission.

The PIL will be taken up for hearing on Monday by a bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh.

The plea filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan contended that the present mode of appointment of the CAG, which is done solely by the executive i.e. by the prime minister who handpicks any individual and recommends his name to the President for appointment, is unconstitutional as it is violative of Article 14 and several basic features of the Constitution.

"The appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India solely by the executive and the Prime Minister of India undermines the independence of the office of the CAG, suffers from grave conflict of interest and thereby is detrimental to good governance and democracy in India. It is also manifestly arbitrary, detrimental to institutional integrity and violates several basic features of the constitution," the plea said.

It said the CAG is uniquely placed in Part V of the Constitution as one of the five institutions of the Union and a collective reading of Articles 148-151 of the Constitution along with the various provisions of the Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 would show that the Constitution has equated the position of the CAG to that of a sitting judge of this court.

It added the current process of appointment of the CAG is by way of an unwritten convention which is alien to the law.

"Neither does Article 148(1) nor does the 1971 Act envisage a procedure which is currently being followed where the executive, and specially the Prime Minister, appoints the CAG. If this were to be so, it would obviously and naturally run contrary to the entire scheme of Chapter V (Articles 148-151) of the Constitution of India and the 1971 Act," the PIL further said.

"By the very nature of his job, the CAG is supposed to promote transparency," the PIL said, adding that if he is to discharge his duties dispassionately without fear or favour, his appointment process cannot be opaque or arbitrary.

It added that the CAG acts as a watchdog over government accounts and expenditure and he plays an important role in ensuring transparency and financial accountability in the functioning of the central and state governments as well as Panchayati Raj institutions.

The NGO said the reports of the CAG are not just used for public debates, but are also an essential source of information for several parliamentary committees, for instance the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which then uses them to scrutinise government expenditures and debate them in Parliament leading to policy making, delivery of essential services to the public, drafting appropriate and necessary legislations, and so on.

"It is for this reason that the appointment process of the CAG should be fair, transparent and non-arbitrary. Unfortunately, despite the Constitution's best intent to keep the office of the CAG independent from any executive interference, it is increasingly witnessing political interference, thereby compromising the very purpose for which the high office was established," it added.

The PIL alleged several instances of political and executive interference with the functioning of CAG.