Public Accounts Committee

In a parliamentary democracy like ours, the Committee system assumes great importance. Administrative accountability to the legislature becomes the sine qua non of such a parliamentary system. The check that Parliament exercises over the executive stems from the basic principle that Parliament embodies the will of the people and it must, therefore, be able to supervise the manner in which public policy laid down by Parliament is carried out. However, the phenomenal proliferation of governmental activities has made the task of legislatures very complex and diversified. By its very nature, Parliament, as a body cannot have an effective control over the government and the whole gamut of its activities. Administrative accountability to the legislature through Committees has been the hallmark of our political system. The Committee on Public Accounts enjoys the place of pride in our Committee System.

Scope and Functions 

The functions of the Committee, as enshrined in Rule 308(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, include examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government of India, the annual finance accounts of the Government and such other accounts laid before the House as the Committee may think fit. In scrutinising the Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India and the Report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India thereon, the Committee has to satisfy: 

(a) that the moneys shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available for, and applicable to, the service or purpose to which they have been applied or charged; 

(b) that the expenditure conforms to the authority which governs it; and 

(c) that every re-appropriation has been made in accordance with the provisions made in this behalf under rules framed by competent authority. 

It shall also be the duty of the Committee:

(a) to examine the statement of accounts showing the `income and expenditure of state corporations, trading and manufacturing schemes, concerns and projects together with the balance sheets and statements of profit and loss accounts which the President may have required to be prepared or are prepared under the provisions of the statutory rules regulating the financing of a particular corporation, trading or manufacturing scheme or concern or project and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon. 

(b) to examine the statement of accounts showing the income and expenditure of autonomous and semi autonomous bodies, the audit of which may be conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India either under the directions of the President or by a statute of Parliament; and 

(c) to consider the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General in cases where the President may have required him to conduct an audit of any receipts or to examine the accounts of stores and stocks. 

The PAC at work 

The Committee's work depends a great deal upon the results of audit and examination of the Accounts of the Union Government carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). The audit by the C&AG is comprehensive and manifold. To cite an example, it involves among others, 

(a) Accountancy Audit, 

(b) Regularity Audit, 

(c) Appropriation Audit, 

(d) Propriety Audit or what is also known as Discretionary Audit and 

(e) Efficiency-cum-performance Audit. 

In recent years, the technique of efficiency-cum-performance has been attempted in the audit of developmental schemes. The Audit examines as how far the implementing agency is adequately discharging its financial responsibilities in regard to the various schemes undertaken by it and ascertains whether the schemes are being executed effectively and their operations conducted economically and whether they are producing the results expected of them. In fact, the Institution of Audit plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Committee on Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General is often termed as "friend, philosopher and guide" of the Committee. 

At the beginning of its term every year, the Committee makes a selection of Audit Paragraphs included in the various reports of C&AG for in-depth examination. In addition to the above, the Committee may also select one or more suo moto subjects for indepth examination during the year [in consonance with Rule 276 of the Rules & Procedure] apart from those included in C&AG Reports/Paras. After holding deliberations and taking note of the time available at the disposal of the Committee, the Committee selects the most important subjects/paragraphs on which oral examination is to be conducted.