Rule 45 — GAR
Original Rule Text
45. Where one department makes payment or renders service as an agent of another department of the same Government the principal department shall, subject to such monetary limit as may be fixed by Government in this behalf, bei debited with the expenditure incurred on its behalf by the agent department.
NOTE 1:-The cost of land acquired by a Civil Department on behalf of the Public Works Department shall be debitable in the accounts of the latter as part of the cost of the works for which the land is taken up; but when land is taken up for two or more service departments conjointly, cost shall be wholly debitable to the department for which the major portion of expenditure was incurred unless there are special orders to the contrary.
NOTE 2: -When a special officer is employed for the acquisition of land of any department, the expenditure on pay, allowances etc. of the Special Officer and the establishment and any expenditure on contingencies is debitable to that department as part of the cost of land. When the land is taken by: a Civil Officer, not specially employed for the work, only special charges incurred in connection with the acquisition of the land on establishment, contingencies etc.: shall be borne by the department for: which the land is acquired.
What This Means
Rule 45 deals with a specific inter-departmental situation: when one government department acts as an agent for another department in making a payment or rendering a service on its behalf. The core principle is simple — when a department incurs expenditure on behalf of another (the 'principal') department, the cost must be charged to the principal department's accounts, not absorbed by the agent department. This prevents the agent department from carrying a financial burden that belongs to someone else.
The rule provides detailed guidance for the most common case of agency — land acquisition. When a Civil Department acquires land on behalf of the PWD for a public works project, the entire cost of that land (including acquisition costs) must appear in the PWD's accounts as part of the project cost, not in the Civil Department's accounts. When land is acquired for two or more departments jointly, the entire cost is allocated to the department for which the major portion of expenditure was incurred — a practical simplification to avoid complicated splitting. An exception exists if there are specific Government orders directing a different allocation.
Note 2 makes an important distinction for land acquisition charges: when a Special Officer is exclusively employed to acquire land for a department, all the costs of that Special Officer (pay, allowances, contingencies) are charged to the benefiting department as part of the land cost. However, when a regular Civil Officer (not specially employed) handles the acquisition as an additional duty, only the special incremental costs incurred specifically for the land acquisition are charged to the benefiting department — not the officer's regular pay, which is already charged to the Civil department's own budget.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Key Points
- 1When one department acts as agent for another and incurs expenditure on its behalf, the principal department is debited with that expenditure.
- 2Land acquired by a Civil Department for the PWD must be shown in PWD's accounts as part of the project cost.
- 3Land acquired jointly for multiple departments: entire cost charged to the department with the major portion of the expenditure, unless Government orders otherwise.
- 4Special Officer engaged exclusively for land acquisition: all costs (pay, allowances, contingencies) charged to the benefiting department.
- 5Regular Civil Officer (not exclusively engaged) handling acquisition: only the special incremental charges (not regular pay) are charged to the benefiting department.
- 6The monetary threshold for these adjustments is set by Government — small amounts may be subject to a no-adjustment provision.
Practical Example
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is widening NH-44 through Bangalore. To acquire the required land, NHAI requests the Revenue Department of Karnataka to handle the Land Acquisition proceedings under the RFCTLARR Act, 2013. The Revenue Department appoints a Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) exclusively for this project — not as an additional duty to an existing post.
Under Rule 45, all costs of the SLAO (salary Rs. 12 lakh/year, office expenses Rs. 1.5 lakh/year, and the total land compensation paid to landowners of Rs. 200 crore) must be debited to NHAI's Capital head for the project, not to the Revenue Department's budget. The Revenue Department acts as agent; NHAI is the principal. The SLAO's costs appear as part of the NH-44 project's total land acquisition cost.
In a separate scenario, the same Revenue Department acquires land for both an NHAI highway project and a minor irrigation project of the State Water Resources Department. The total cost is Rs. 50 crore, with Rs. 35 crore (70%) related to the highway. Under Rule 45, the entire Rs. 50 crore is charged to NHAI's project (the department with the major portion), unless Government has issued specific orders for proportional allocation.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.