Para 2.1.8 — MSO (Audit)
Original Rule Text
2.1.8 Under Sub-section (2) of Section 18 of the Act, it is the statutory obligation of the person in-charge of the office or the department, the accounts of which are to be inspected/audited by the functionaries of the Comptroller and Auditor General, to afford all facilities for the inspection/audit and comply with requests for information in as complete a form as possible and with all reasonable expedition. In the eventuality of nonproduction of vital records, the audit should be called off and the matter should be reported by the Accountant General to the Chief Secretary in the State or to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Centre, as the case may be.
What This Means
Under Section 18(2) of the CAG's DPC Act 1971, it is the legal duty of the officer in charge of any department being audited to provide all facilities for the audit and to respond to information requests completely and promptly. If vital records are not produced despite requests, the audit should be called off entirely and the Accountant General must escalate the matter to the Chief Secretary (state) or the Secretary to the Government of India (centre).
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Key Points
- 1Statutory obligation on auditee offices to provide all audit facilities
- 2Information must be provided completely and with reasonable speed
- 3Non-production of vital records leads to calling off the audit
- 4The matter is escalated to Chief Secretary (state) or Secretary to GoI (centre)
- 5This obligation comes from Section 18(2) of the CAG DPC Act, 1971
Practical Example
An audit party arrives at a state department to audit a centrally-sponsored scheme. Despite multiple requests, the department does not produce the utilisation certificates and expenditure statements for the last two years. The senior auditor reports this to the AG, who decides to call off the audit and writes to the Chief Secretary of the state, highlighting the department's failure to meet its statutory obligation.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a department does not produce records for audit?▼
Which law mandates cooperation with audit?▼
How quickly must auditee offices respond to audit requests?▼
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.