The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General

In one line

One officer for the Union and every State, appointed by warrant, paid as a Judge of the Supreme Court, holding office for six years or until sixty-five, and removable only as a Judge is removable.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: article 148(1) provides that there shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India who shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court; article 148(2) requires him before entering upon his office to make and subscribe before the President an oath or affirmation according to the form in the Third Schedule; article 148(3) leaves his salary and conditions of service to be determined by Parliament by law, with a proviso that neither his salary nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment; and section 3 of the Act of 1971 fixes his salary as equal to that of a Judge of the Supreme Court while section 4 fixes his term at six years from the date he assumes office, with a proviso that he vacates office on attaining the age of sixty-five years if that occurs earlier.

One officer, two levels

Article 148(1) creates a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. One officer.

Not one for the Union and one for each State. Chapter 1260 noted the consequence and it is worth stating first because everything else depends on it: the officer who audits a State's accounts is appointed by the President, paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India, and removable only by the process that removes a Judge of the Supreme Court.

So no State Government appoints, pays, promotes or removes the person who audits it. That is a degree of independence no State institution in this book possesses, and chapter 1510 shows how the office works at the State level through the Accountant General.

And article 151 completes it, chapter 1400: his reports on Union accounts go to the President and are laid before Parliament; his reports on State accounts go to the Governor and are laid before the State Legislature. One officer, two sets of masters, and neither of them the government he audits.

Appointment and oath

148(1): appointment. Appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

Note what article 148 does not provide. No selection committee. No consultation. No panel. No qualifications. Compare chapter 610's section 4 of the Central Vigilance Commission Act and chapter 800's section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, each of which prescribes a committee and, in the latter, a judicial member.