CHAPTER 15; Audit of Sanctions
CHAPTER 15
Audit of Sanctions
257. Nature of Sanction Audit. In conducting the audit of expenditure Audit has not only to see that the expenditure is covered by a sanction, either general or special, but also to satisfy itself that the authority according a financial sanction is competent to do so in virtue of the powers vested in by the provisions of the Constitution and of the Laws, Rules or Orders made thereunder or by the rules of delegation of financial authority made by a competent authority and that the sanction is definite and needs no reference to the sanctioning authority itself or to any higher authority. This check is otherwise known as “Audit of Sanctions”. Though the duty of audit in this regard is thus very simply stated, the conduct of this audit is a complicated matter and its complexity lies in the knowledge and the correct application of the principles involved. Audit Officers have to conduct this audit with the utmost care and attention as once a sanction is accepted in audit, expenditure may have to be passed against it for a length of time. In order to conduct the audit of sanctions properly it is therefore incumbent upon Audit Officers to make themselves fully conversant with the powers of sanction of the several authorities.
258. Communication of Sanctions to Audit. The Indian Audit and Accounts Department is entitled to receive a copy of an order sanctioning expenditure, or a sanction which is otherwise to be enforced in audit, from the authority competent to accord the sanction. The procedure of communi- cating such sanctions to Audit is determined by the Rules of Business of the Government concerned.
259. In smaller matters, such as contingent expenditure, sanction may be regarded as being accorded by the signature or the countersignature on a bill; and in such cases it is the duty of the auditor to see that no item in the bill actually requires the sanction of an authority higher than the signing or the countersigning officer.
260. Audit of Sanctions of the Government of India and of the Govern- ments of the States. The audit of financial sanctions and orders of the Gov- ernment of India and of the Governments of the States as well as of authorities subordinate to them devolves on the Audit Officer concerned, but sanctions and orders which have been issued with the concurrence of the Comptroller and Auditor General requires no further audit check.
261. Deleted.
262. Certain guiding Principles governing Sanction Audit. In the audit of sanctions to expenditure the guiding principles enunciated below are observed :-
(i) if the sanctioning authority is vested with full powers in respect of certain class of expenditure, a sanction accorded under those powers can be challenged by Audit only on grounds of propriety;(ii) if it is vested with powers which may be exercised provided due regard is paid to certain criteria which are expressed in a general form, sanctions accorded under those powers can be challenged by audit.
(1) if the disregard of the criteria is considered to be so serious as to make the sanction perverse, or
(2) if the facts of the case are such as to make the Audit Officer confident that one or more of the criteria have been disregard- ed;
(iii) if it is vested with powers which are expressed in precise terms. the Audit Officer is bound to ascertain that the order defining its powers is obeyed exactly in every instance;
(iv) for the purpose of financial sanction a group of works which forms one project shall be considered as one work, and the neces- sity for obtaining the sanction of a higher authority to a project is not avoided by reason of the fact that the cost of each particular work in the project does not require such sanction;
(v) if any one item of a scheme requires sanction of a higher authority, Audit should hold under objection any expenditure on that item until sanction to it is obtained, and in determining whether objection should be raised to expenditure on any other portion of the scheme prior to the receipt of such sanction. Audit should see that the expenditure is not likely to exceed at a later date the limit up to which sanction can be accorded by the original sane- tioning authority.
263. Audit of Sanctions to the grant of additions to pay and other special concessions and allowances. In scrutinising sanctions and orders for the grant of additions to pay and other special concessions and allowances, Audit, besides considering the competency of the authority in relations to the provi- sions of the Constitution and of the laws, Rules or Orders made thereunder is required to examine carefully the reason for the grant of the special pay allowances or concessions, as recorded in the sanctioning order (or as commu- nicated to it confidentially by the sanctioning authority if any such arrange- ment exists), and should question the propriety of such sanctions if it considers that the principles laid down in the relevant Service rules for the grant of such special pay, concessions, etc. have not been observed.
264. Record of Sanctions. All sanctions to expenditure are noted and properly attested in a prescribed audit register or other record against which the audit of expenditure will be conducted, and if it is known that the charge will entail a recovery from a third party or such a recovery has been ordered by the sanctioning authority, a note of the recovery due is also made in a suitable register so that it may be watched.265. Sanctions with a long period of currency as well as sanctions of a permanent nature require to be reviewed periodically so that, if there is any reason to think that the administrative authority concerned should be invited to review the sanction, such action may be taken.
266. Provisions governing Sanctions to expenditure on Public Services.- Sanctions to expenditure on public services are governed by the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Acts of the appropriate Legislatures, and of the various rules, regulations, directions and orders issued thereunder. Some of the most important of these provisions are mentioned in Chapter 23.
267. Authorities competent to Sanction expenditure. Subject to the pro- visions referred to in the preceding paragraph and other similar provision in regard to expenditure on public services, sanctions to expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India (and the Contingency Fund of India if such a Fund is created under Article 267 of the Constitution) will be accorded by the President and from the Consolidated Fund of the State (and the Contingency Fund of the State if such a Fund is created under Article 267 of the Constitu- tion) by the Governor of the State. The power to sanction expenditure may also be exercised by the authorities subordinate to the President or the Gover- nor, to whom such powers have bees delegated by the President or the Governor, as the case may be, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in the order or delegation.