Political party accounts must be subjected to CAG scrutiny - HC
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When the public interest petition filed by journalist Kingshuk Nag seeking to check the role of money power in elections came up for hearing, the bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice Sanjay Kumar was told by amicus curiae D Prakash Reddy that the Law Commission of India, in its report submitted to the Union law ministry two weeks ago, had suggested that the accounts of political parties be audited by CAG empanelled auditors. This apart, petitioner Nag himself filed an additional affidavit urging the court to direct the Election Commission to get the accounts of important political parties audited by the CAG himself.
Prakash Reddy also told the court that corporate companies make discreet donations to various political parties of which 75 per cent is black money. "The companies give such money to certain election trusts and they in turn make the donations to the parties. Now, the Law Commission has urged the Centre to bring such trusts also under the purview of the Election Commission. Such donations should be made public and kept in public domain like the websites of the Election Commission of India, etc., to enable the people to know who is backing whom," he said.
For bringing in any such reforms, the existing laws dealing with elections should be suitably amended, he added.
In his additional affidavit, Kingshuk Nag submitted that "there is minimal legislation in the field of monitoring of donations received by political parties. The present mechanism of monitoring party funds is replete with loopholes. The source of 90 per cent of funds received by political parties is not known, thus it is impossible to monitor," he said citing P K Dash, Election Commission's director general for expenditure, who revealed this at the recent 11th annual national conference on electoral and political reforms held in Kolkata on March 21.
Nag wanted that party accounts should conform to the guidance note on accounting and auditing of political parties issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and that the annual accounts be audited and certified by qualified and practicing chartered accountants. However, the director general of the EC has himself admitted that in spite of trying its best, the EC has not been able to monitor the flow of money to political parties to the extent that is desired, the petitioner said. In view of this, the accounts and expenditures of major political parties should be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to bring about transparency, he said.
"The CAG's audit is generally more rigorous than that by ordinary chartered accountants. In fact the CAG is an organization created by the Constitution of India and is well known for its independence, objectivity, integrity, reliability, professional excellence, transparency and positive approach. The CAG provides credible, balanced and timely reporting on public finance and governance. Thus some transparent criteria should be evolved to limit the auditing of the main political parties if not the smaller ones," Nag said in his affidavit. (Times of India)
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