Which of the following Article of the Indian Constitution establishes the independent office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India ?

Question

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Correct — option (3), Article 148. Chapter V of Part V of the Constitution is headed 'Comptroller and Auditor-General of India', and it opens with Article 148, which creates the office itself. Clause (1) provides that there shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, and removable only in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court. The word that matters in the stem is 'independent', because everything else in Article 148 is a device to secure that independence. The CAG can be removed only by an order of the President made after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a special majority, on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity — the same protection a Supreme Court judge enjoys, so no government can dismiss an auditor whose findings it dislikes. The salary and conditions of service are determined by Parliament, and Article 148(4) bars any variation to the CAG's disadvantage after appointment. Article 148(6) charges the salary, allowances and pensions of the CAG and the administrative expenses of the office on the Consolidated Fund of India, which means they are not votable in Parliament and cannot be squeezed through the annual grants. Article 148(4) also disqualifies the CAG from any further office under the Government of India or of any State after ceasing to hold office, removing the incentive to please the executive with an eye on a post-retirement appointment. The question separates two adjacent Articles that candidates routinely merge. Article 148 creates the office and protects the holder. Article 149 is the next step — it deals with the duties and powers of the CAG, providing that they shall be such as are prescribed by Parliament, which Parliament did through the Comptroller and Auditor-General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. Establishment is 148; duties and powers are 149. The stem asks which Article establishes the independent office, so the answer is option (3).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Article 141 has nothing to do with audit. It is part of the Supreme Court chapter and provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India — the constitutional basis of binding precedent in India. It appears here only because its number is close to 148 and candidates who have not fixed the Articles in sequence will guess by proximity.  (b) Article 144 is also from the Supreme Court chapter: all authorities, civil and judicial, in the territory of India shall act in aid of the Supreme Court. It is a provision about assistance to the judiciary, not about financial audit. Note the pattern in this question — two of the three wrong options are drawn from the judiciary chapter, so a candidate who knows only that 'the 140s are about the Supreme Court' can already narrow the field.  (d) This is the intended near-miss and the only distractor that is genuinely about the CAG. Article 149 provides that the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States as may be prescribed by or under law made by Parliament — the hook on which the CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 hangs. But it presupposes an office that already exists; the office is created and insulated by Article 148.

Concept: The CAG is the constitutional auditor of the Indian State and the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. The office exists to close the loop that begins when Parliament votes money: the executive spends, and an authority outside the executive certifies whether the money went where the legislature said it should and whether it was spent lawfully and with due regard to economy. That is why the constitutional design places the CAG structurally beyond executive reach. Dr B.R. Ambedkar told the Constituent Assembly that the CAG would be probably the most important officer under the Constitution of India, on the reasoning that the duty to see that expenditure conforms to the authority of the legislature is a duty no less vital than the judiciary's. The CAG's audit reports go to the President, who causes them to be laid before each House of Parliament, and they are then examined by the Public Accounts Committee — the parliamentary link that converts an audit finding into political accountability.

State PCS 2026 Q83 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

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