Letters: Keep CAG out of politics

This refers to the debate “What’s better: a single-member or a three-member CAG?” (November 21). Nothing should be done out of anger, and far less a constitutional amendment. The people of India attach sanctity to the Constitution, and, so should the government. The timing of the government’s intention to form a triumvirate of Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAGs) shows that it is not backed by any logic, but a need to settle a score with an incumbent.

That CAG cannot be compared with the Election Commissioner is evident from the constitutional provision in Article 324 (2) that notes a multiple Election Commissioner; however, Article 148 provides for “a” CAG. The founding fathers of the Constitution considered it necessary to distinguish between the two institutions. Moreover, if the Shunglu report is of any immediate cause, one must remember that when he was asked to report on the expenditure in the Commonwealth Games, he chose to report on CAG. And, when he was CAG, he did not think fit to ask for diluting the post. The constitutional post of CAG should be strictly kept out of politics.

 

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay New Delhi

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