Para 4.1.6 — This paragraph details the comprehensive responsib

4.1.6 The Divisional Accountant should ensure the following:

(i) Every payment is so recorded and a receipt for it so obtained that a second claim against Government on the same account is impossible; if it represents a refund of a sum previously received by Government, the amount paid is correctly refundable to the payee.

(ii) Expenditure, which is within the competence of the Divisional Officer to sanction or regularize, is not incurred, as a matter of course, under the orders of subordinate disbursing officers without his knowledge; all such items of expenditure should at once be brought to the notice of the Divisional Officer and his orders obtained and placed on record.

(iii) Subordinate officers do not exceed the financial powers delegated to them either by the Divisional Officer or a higher authority.

(iv) Allotments made by the Divisional Officer for individual works out of the lump sum provision made available to him for a group of works are not exceeded and expenditure against such individual allotments is adequately monitored.

(v) In cases where two or more disbursing officers have to operate simultaneously against a single sanction, orders of the Divisional Officer are obtained placing specific restrictions on the extent to which each such officer could enter into monetary transactions. Similar orders of the Head

of the Circle or the appropriate higher authority should be obtained if the disbursing officers of two or more divisions are involved in operating against a single sanction. It may be advisable in such cases to provide for separate working estimates or other sanctions to cover the transactions of each officer and, for the purpose of bringing the expenditure to account, these should be treated as far as possible as independent transactions pertaining to the same group of works or the same project. If, however, this is not possible, special arrangements must be made for checking the total expenditure against the sanction.

(vi) Works expenditure is checked with reference to the estimates in order to ensure that the charges have been incurred only in pursuance of the objects intended in the estimates. In the case of works expenditure on which is recorded by sub-heads (e.g. expenditure on brick work), the Divisional Accountant is responsible for checking the expenditure on each sub-head with the estimated quantity or work to be done, the sanctioned rate and the total sanctioned cost so that he may bring to notice all deviations from the sanctioned estimate.

(vii) The authorized gross expenditure on a work is not exceeded without the orders of the competent authority and any surplus recoveries of expenditure are not utilized towards such additional expenditure; savings on account of abandonment of parts of a work, as evidenced by the quantities of the work executed or otherwise, are not utilized towards an unauthorized object.

(viii) Recoveries of expenditure are watched in order to bring to the Divisional Officer’s notice all marked deviations from the provision for such credits in the estimates of works and his orders thereon are obtained.

(ix) Claims included in bills presented directly at treasuries by the Divisional Officer are examined; service books and leave accounts of subordinates are maintained in accordance with rules and the admissibility of leave applied for by subordinates is verified before the competent authority decides upon their leave applications. In all cases of doubt, however, he should advise the Divisional Officer to consult the Accountant General.

(x) Muster rolls and petty vouchers which are not submitted to the office of the Accountant General (A&E) or the Pay and Accounts Officer are checked in detail.

(xi) Satisfactory and efficient arrangements exist for checking computed tenders and the comparative statement of tenders correctly incorporates the totals as checked on the individual tenders. The Divisional Accountant should also personally undertake a sufficient test check of the computed and checked tenders to satisfy himself reasonably that the checking has been properly done.

(xii) The rules and orders in force are duly observed in respect of all the transactions of the division. If the Divisional Accountant considers that any transaction or order affecting receipts or expenditure is such as would be challenged by the Accountant General if the latter were to apply the preliminary internal check, it is his duty to bring this fact to the notice of

the Divisional Officer with a statement of his reasons and to obtain the orders of that officer. It will then be his duty to comply with these orders; if, however, he has been overruled and is not satisfied with the decision, he should at the same time make a brief note of the case in the Register of the Divisional Accountant’s Objections (Form MSO (Audit)-2) and submit the register to the Divisional Officer so that he may have an opportunity to either accept the Divisional Accountant’s advice on reconsideration and order action accordingly, or to record, for the information of the Accountant General, his reasons for disregarding that advice. An objection entered in this register should not be considered as finally disposed of until it has been reviewed by the Accountant General (Audit), for whose inspection the register should be available at all times.

The Divisional Accountant may also be required by the Divisional Officer to undertake, on his behalf, such other scrutiny of the accounts of the receipts and disbursements of subordinate officers falling within his own powers of sanction as he may consider necessary.

What This Means

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.

Key Points

• 1Prevent duplicate payments by ensuring proper recording and receipts
• 2Bring all expenditure by subordinate officers to the Divisional Officer's notice
• 3Ensure subordinate officers do not exceed delegated financial powers
• 4Monitor expenditure against individual allotments for groups of works
• 5Check works expenditure sub-head-wise against sanctioned estimates
• 6Prevent unauthorized use of savings from abandoned work parts or surplus recoveries
• 7Maintain the Register of Divisional Accountant's Objections for AG review

Practical Example

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.

Frequently Asked Questions

This explanation was generated with AI assistance for educational purposes. Always refer to the official gazette notification for authoritative text.