Duties and Powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General
Official heading: “Duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part V, Article 149, printed page 69
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1. In One Sentence
Article 149 empowers Parliament to prescribe by law the duties and powers of the CAG in relation to the accounts of the Union, the States, and any other public authority or body.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 149 defines the constitutional mandate and functional scope of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
It provides that the CAG shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States and of any other authority or body as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament.
Pursuant to this article, Parliament enacted the Comptroller and Auditor-General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 (CAG Act, 1971).
Under this statutory and constitutional framework, the CAG audits: (a) all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of each State/Union Territory; (b) all transactions relating to the Contingency Funds and Public Accounts; (c) all trading, manufacturing, and profit-and-loss accounts of government departments; (d) receipts and stores of the Union and States; and (e) government companies and statutory corporations.
The CAG conducts both regulatory audits (ensuring money spent was legally authorized) and performance/propriety audits (evaluating efficiency, economy, and whether public funds were wasted).
3. Practical Illustrative Example
The CAG initiates a comprehensive performance audit of a multi-billion-rupee national highway expansion project funded through public-private partnerships.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 149 vests comprehensive public financial audit powers in the CAG as regulated by parliamentary statute.
- Covers accounts of both the Union and the States (unified federal audit).
- Empowers audit of statutory corporations, autonomous bodies, and local authorities as prescribed by law.
- Encompasses compliance, financial, and performance (propriety) auditing.
- Governed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General's Act, 1971.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part V, Article 149, printed page 69 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.