Para 3.4.10 — MSO (Audit)
Original Rule Text
3.4.10 The principal duty of the Accountant General (Audit) in respect of Special Contingencies is to watch the expenditure against the necessary sanction of the superior authority. When an order or sanction contains no indication of the amount or ceiling of
expenditure sanctioned, enquiry should be made from the issuing authority, and the charges should not be admitted in audit until complete sanction is received. When expenditure against a lump sum sanction is incurred in instalments, it should be verified in local audit that arrangements exist in the drawing and countersigning offices to watch the progressive outlay against the sanctioned total.
- Audit of Countersigned Contingencies
- A. Bills Countersigned after payment
What This Means
For Special Contingencies (expenditure requiring specific sanction from a superior authority), the Accountant General (Audit) must monitor spending against the approved sanction amount. If a sanction order does not mention any expenditure limit, the audit office should ask the issuing authority to clarify before admitting the charges. When spending against a lump sum sanction happens in instalments, local audit must verify that the drawing office tracks cumulative spending against the total sanctioned amount.
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.
Key Points
- 1Audit must watch expenditure against the superior authority's sanction
- 2Sanctions without clear expenditure ceilings must be clarified before charges are admitted
- 3Lump sum sanctions spent in instalments require progressive expenditure tracking
- 4Local audit verifies that drawing and countersigning offices maintain proper watch registers
- 5Charges cannot be passed in audit without complete sanction details
Practical Example
A ministry sanctions Rs. 5 lakh for office renovation but the actual spending happens across four months. During local audit, the auditor checks the office's expenditure register to verify that the cumulative spending in each instalment is being tracked against the Rs. 5 lakh ceiling and that no excess has been incurred without additional sanction.
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 the sanction order does not mention a monetary limit?▼
Why is progressive tracking important for lump sum sanctions?▼
Who is responsible for maintaining the expenditure watch?▼
This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.