New Delhi: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is expected to meet on Wednesday, October 25, when it will be briefed on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports presented in parliament during the monsoon session.

The PAC is at present headed by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and includes 21 other parliamentarians from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The PAC is one of the oldest parliamentary committees in India. Its functions include the examination of the Appropriation Accounts relating to the Railways, Defence Services, Postal Services and other Civil Ministries of the Government of India and Reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India thereon as also the Reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on Revenue Receipts mainly form the basis of the deliberations of the Committee. The Committee may, also take up subjects relating to public finances for detailed examination, which are not specifically included in the Audit Reports.

In scrutinising the Reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on Revenue Receipts, the Committee examines various aspects of the government’s tax administration. The Committee, thus, examines cases involving under-assessments, tax evasion, non-levy of duties, misclassifications, etc., identifies the loopholes in the taxation laws and procedures and makes recommendations in order to check leakage of revenue.

The monsoon session that ended on August 11, saw the tabling of twelve CAG reports that revealed corruption and irregularities in the functioning of several Union government ministries and departments. 

CAG reports have been of special interest after the UPA government came under fire for the “2G” and “coal block allocation scam” – which were revealed when Vinod Rai was the CAG, and which had serious consequences for the UPA’s credibility.

The CAG submits audit reports to parliament, which in turn sends them to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for detailed examination. 

Of the twelve reports tabled in the monsoon session, two which pointed out irregularities in Ayushman Bharat and the Dwarka Expressway project were picked up by the opposition parties – especially the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – who accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of presiding over “scams” and demanding accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last month, the CAG on highway projects under the Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I (BPP-1) that found instances of irregularities and massive overrun costs in the Dwarka Expressway project, was presented before the PAC, reported the news agency PTI.

The Wire has earlier reported that G.C. Murmu, the present CAG who was a close aide of Prime Minister Modi and home minister Amit Shah during his time in the IAS, had transferred three Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) officers who were coincidentally involved with and in charge of the two CAG reports on Ayushman Bharat and the Dwarka Expressway project.

The Wire has also reported that in the aftermath of these audit reports, “verbal orders” were passed by the CAG’s office in New Delhi to “stop all fieldwork”.

The CAG’s office has, however, denied that such verbal orders were issued. “Field audit parties across the country are presently deployed as usual,” it said.