An estimation of comptroller and auditor general of India as supreme audit authority of India

The government of every nation has a moral mandate to undertake all types of activities for which finance is essential. The government has to follow prudent financial management practices. The Government of India follows the entire gamut of financial management activities, having three broad facets namely budgeting, accounting and auditing, during a financial year. Audit plays a pivotal role in the financial management system. There is an extensive audit machinery at the top of which is the institution of the Comptroller and Auditor General in India, a British legacy, having constitutional status. He is the supreme audit authority of the country. As an officer of the Constitution his role is that of a watchdog. His intensive audit has brought to the fore a number of financial irregularities. Through his audit reports he is definitely contributing to improving the state of financial management in the country but several issues remain mostly unaddressed which act as challenges before a truly earnest audit.