Irked by leaks, CAG decides on diversity in prose

Concerned over the frequent leaks of its “half baked reports”, the office of the Union comptroller and auditor-general (CAG) has decided to issue different versions of its draft reports — the ones given for feedback and reactions before the final version is readied — to ministries and public sector units to nail the sources of leaks.

The different versions would be broadly similar in content, but worded differently. The drafts would also explicitly say it is a ‘privileged document’, to warn recipients that unauthorised possession can invite penal action under the Official Secrets Act.

The move comes in the backdrop of repeated instances of leaks of its draft reports, recently on the auction of 2G telecom licences and of the production sharing contract signed by the petroleum ministry with private developers such as Reliance and Cairn Energy.

At present, a single version of the draft report is sent to the audited entity (department, PSUs) and other stakeholders. After a ministry gets the draft report, copies are made available at various divisions for the comments. CAG officials feel the leaks happen at this stage.

“The process that we follow today is very open. When we go to audit a ministry, we ask a lot of questions, which we call audit memos and they (the ministry) give their replies. These memos are available with the ministry. When the reply comes, we formulate our observations and call them (the ministry) again. Finally, in the exit conference, we share all our observations with the ministry, in writing. In the case of the 2G and CWG (Commonwealth Games) audits, even after the exit conference, we had given the ministry a statement of facts, which is more or less the final observations. The leak can happen anywhere during this process,” a CAG official said.

While the attempt is to plug the leaks, CAG Vinod Rai said his institution would not move away from its transparent, interactive system of audit. “All that I am going to do is to tell the ministry and also make a mention on my report that it is a privileged document. Every document would be distinct. I will word each of them differently. If it gets leaked, I will know from which ministry it got leaked and the officials who are under an oath of secrecy will be accountable,” he said.

CAG officials say most of the time, the initial observations and audit memos are “half baked”. According to them, of every 100 audit observations raised in the initial stages, 60 to 70 get dropped after the other party gives the explanation. By sensationalising the queries raised in the initial drafts, the focus is often on non-issues, which have already been explained, they say.

The method of having different versions of a draft report is not new.

In the early 1990s, the Planning Commission used to follow a similar procedure, where each official document, including budget documents, were uniquely numbered.