The biggest concern touched off by the Delhi High Court judgment permitting a CAG audit of private telecom companies has to do not so much with the violation of their privacy but the change or dilution in the objective of the CAG. If the government received Rs 2,000 crore from the telecom companies but reported
Rs 1,000 crore to Parliament, for instance, the matter would fall within the CAG’s jurisdiction. But cheating or violation of contractual obligation should be dealt with by investigative agencies or contract law, not by the CAG. The government needs to arrive at better contracts and audit requirements in the contracts instead of burdening the CAG.
Through the CAG, Parliament can keep a check over whether the executive is making expenditures the legislature has not approved of. The Indian government’s accounts are in very bad shape. We are yet to move to a double entry book-keeping system. Moving the attention of the CAG to actions of private companies may afford some glee in the short term, but it may well prove to be harmful in the long run.
