NEW DELHI: Amidst accounts of private firms in power and telecom business coming under scrutiny of CAG, industry body Ficci said there is “no place for CAG interfering into a private company’s books” as the official auditor was set up to examine accounts of government firms.
“As far as audit through CAG is concerned, we believe the CAG was constituted to be answerable to Parliament in respect of businesses which are owned by the government. So therefore to my mind, there is no place for CAG interfering into a private company’s books,” Ficci President Sidharth Birla said at a conference here.
In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has held that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) can audit the accounts of private telecom operators under the relevant provisions of the law.
A bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and V Kameswar Rao permitted the top accounting body to conduct audit of private telecom companies under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act.
Besides, the Delhi Government has also warned private power distribution companies that their licenses may be cancelled if they do not cooperate with the CAG which is scrutinizing their finances.
Birla also called into question the efficacy of the UPA government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), saying it had drawn people away from productive or industrial employment, leading to fall in capital assets.
“When NREGA was originally conceived and passed in Parliament, the expectation or the suggestion was that assets would be created. That has not happened,” he said.-PTI
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