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CAG, commissions for weaker sections and non-constitutional bodies

Constitutional bodies · Part 2 / 2 · Fact-checked on 17 October 2026 · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General (Articles 148–151: appointment, removal, the 1971 Act, audit reports and the Public Accounts Committee); the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes (Articles 338, 338A, 338B; 65th, 89th, 102nd and 105th Amendments); the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B); the Advocate General compared with the Attorney General; and how constitutional, statutory and executive bodies differ.

Part 1 covered the referees of elections, recruitment and tax sharing. This part turns to bodies that watch how public money is spent and how the State treats groups that need special protection. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India checks, after the money has gone out, whether it was spent as the legislature allowed. The National Commissions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes check whether the promised safeguards reach these groups, and the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities does the same for people whose mother tongue is not their State's main language. The part then compares the Attorney General with a State's Advocate General, and ends by sorting the commissions in the news into three groups: bodies created by the Constitution, each statutory body created by an Act, and bodies created by a government resolution.

Article 148 provides for a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal. So that the auditor need not fear the ministers whose accounts he examines, the office has the shield of a Supreme Court judge: removal only in the same manner and on the same grounds, by the President after each House of Parliament passes an address by a special majority on proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Parliament fixes the salary and service conditions by law, and they cannot be varied to the CAG's disadvantage after appointment. The CAG (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 sets the term at six years or up to the age of 65, whichever is earlier. The office's expenses are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, and after retiring the CAG may hold no further office under the Union or a State.

Article 149 leaves the detailed duties of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India to a law of Parliament, and the 1971 Act supplies them. The CAG audits all receipts and spending from the Consolidated Fund of India, of each State and of each Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly; the transactions of the Contingency Funds and Public Accounts; and, as the Act provides, the accounts of government companies and of bodies substantially financed by the government. Under Article 150 the accounts of the Union and the States are kept in the form the President prescribes on the CAG's advice. A point tested often: the Indian CAG is only an auditor. The British Comptroller also authorises the issue of money from the Exchequer, but in India ministries draw money under appropriation laws and the CAG examines the spending afterwards. In the Constituent Assembly B.R. Ambedkar called this officer probably the most important one under the Constitution.

Under Article 151 the CAG's reports on the Union's accounts go to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament; reports on a State's accounts go to the Governor, who has them laid before the State legislature. The Public Accounts Committee then examines the reports and calls senior officials to explain the lapses, which is why the CAG is called the committee's friend, philosopher and guide. Audit works at several levels. Regularity or compliance audit asks whether money was spent with legal authority and by the rules; propriety audit asks whether the spending was sensible and economical; performance audit asks whether a scheme delivered what it promised. Suppose a ministry buys machines at twice the market price while staying within its budget: the purchase may pass a regularity check, yet a propriety or performance audit can expose it. The CAG only reports what it finds; it cannot punish anyone.

Article 338 at first provided only for a Special Officer to investigate the safeguards for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and report to the President. The 65th Amendment (1990) replaced that officer with a multi-member National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Tribal communities face problems of a different kind, tied to land, forests and isolation, so the 89th Amendment (2003) split the body: Article 338 now provides for the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and a new Article 338A for the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Each has a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members, appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal, with service conditions and tenure fixed by rules the President makes. The commissions monitor the safeguards for these groups, inquire into specific complaints that their rights were denied, and advise on planning for their social and economic development.

While investigating a matter or inquiring into a complaint, each commission has the powers of a civil court trying a suit: it can summon any person and examine him on oath, order documents to be produced, receive evidence on affidavits and requisition public records from any court or office. It reports to the President every year and whenever it thinks fit. The President lays the reports before each House of Parliament with a memorandum on the action taken and the reasons for rejecting any recommendation; a report concerning a State goes to the Governor, who places it before the State legislature. The Union and every State must consult the commission on all major policy matters affecting its group. Suppose a district's police refuse to register atrocity complaints from Scheduled Caste families: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes can summon the officers and call for the records, but it then issues recommendations, not orders a court would enforce.

Backward classes reached constitutional status by a different road. In Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) the Supreme Court asked for a permanent body to examine requests to include or exclude groups from the lists of backward classes, and an Act of 1993 created the National Commission for Backward Classes, so for 25 years it was a statutory body. The 102nd Amendment (2018) inserted Article 338B, giving it a constitutional base with a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members and the same powers, reports and consultation as the other two commissions. The same amendment added Article 342A, under which the President notifies the socially and educationally backward classes. In Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil v. Chief Minister of Maharashtra (2021), the Maratha reservation case, the majority read Article 342A as leaving the power to identify such classes with the Union alone. Within months the 105th Amendment (2021) made clear that each State may prepare and maintain its own list for its own purposes.

Article 350B was added by the 7th Amendment (1956), the amendment that reorganised the States largely by language. Even after the new boundaries, every State had people whose mother tongue differed from its main language, such as Telugu speakers in Tamil Nadu or Kannada speakers in Maharashtra. For them the President appoints a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, who investigates all matters relating to their constitutional safeguards. One such safeguard is Article 350A, added by the same amendment, which asks every State and local authority to provide instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage for children of linguistic minority groups. The officer reports to the President at the intervals the President directs; the President lays the reports before each House of Parliament and sends them to the State governments concerned. The officer can investigate and report but cannot compel.

Article 165 gives every State an Advocate General, its highest law officer, who does for the State what the Attorney General does for the Union under Article 76. The Governor appoints a person qualified to be a High Court judge; the Attorney General must be qualified to be a Supreme Court judge. Both hold office during the pleasure of the appointing authority and receive the remuneration it fixes; neither has a fixed term or a special removal procedure, so in practice they leave when the government changes. The Advocate General advises the State government on legal questions and performs the legal duties the Governor assigns. Under Article 177 he may speak in and take part in the proceedings of either House of the State legislature and its committees, but cannot vote; Article 88 gives the Attorney General the same right in Parliament. Only the Attorney General has a right of audience in every court in India.

Many bodies in the news are not constitutional at all. A statutory body is created by an Act of Parliament and can be reshaped or abolished by another Act; an executive body is created by a government resolution and can be wound up the same way. The National Human Rights Commission is statutory under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993; it is chaired by a person who has been Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge, and its recommendations do not bind the government. The Central Vigilance Commission began under an executive resolution in 1964 and became statutory through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, after Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1997) directed that it be given statutory status. The Central Bureau of Investigation was set up by a Home Ministry resolution in 1963 and draws its powers of investigation from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. The Lokpal is statutory under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and NITI Aayog was created by a Union Cabinet resolution in 2015.

The bodies in this chapter follow a clear pattern. A few act directly: the Election Commission conducts elections and the Public Service Commissions hold examinations. Most advise or report: the Finance Commission recommends, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India audits and reports to the legislature, the three national commissions investigate and report, and the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities reports to the President. Their strength comes from where they are created and how they are shielded, not from any power to punish: secure tenure and charged expenses for the CAG, the duty of governments to explain why a recommendation was rejected, and the Public Accounts Committee's scrutiny of audit reports. A constitutional body survives any change of government because only an amendment can remove it; a statutory body lasts as long as Parliament wishes, and an executive body as long as the government of the day wishes. To tell which kind a body is, trace its source: an Article, an Act or a resolution.

Exam traps

• The CAG is removable only like a Supreme Court judge, but the six-year term and the retirement age of 65 come from the 1971 Act, not from the Constitution.
• The Indian CAG has no control over the issue of money from the Consolidated Fund; unlike the British Comptroller, it audits only after the spending.
• CAG reports on Union accounts go to the President and on State accounts to the Governor, not directly to Parliament, the Speaker or the State legislature.
• The 65th Amendment (1990) created one combined commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; the 89th Amendment (2003) split it into Articles 338 and 338A.
• The National Commission for Backward Classes was statutory (1993 Act) until the 102nd Amendment (2018) made it constitutional under Article 338B; the 105th Amendment (2021) restored the States' power to keep their own lists.
• The Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B, 7th Amendment 1956) is appointed by and reports to the President, not the Governors.
• The Advocate General is appointed by the Governor, needs the qualifications of a High Court judge, holds office during the Governor's pleasure and may speak in the State legislature but not vote.
• The CVC became statutory in 2003, but the CBI is still not a statutory body: it was set up by a 1963 resolution and only draws its powers from the DSPE Act, 1946; NITI Aayog is purely executive.

Recap

• CAG (Article 148): appointed by the President, removable only like a Supreme Court judge, six years or age 65 under the 1971 Act, expenses charged, no further office.
• Articles 149–150: duties fixed by the 1971 Act; accounts kept in the form the President prescribes on the CAG's advice; the CAG has no control over the release of money.
• Article 151: reports to the President or Governor, laid before the legislature, examined by the Public Accounts Committee; regularity, propriety and performance audit.
• National Commissions for Scheduled Castes (Article 338) and Scheduled Tribes (Article 338A): 65th Amendment 1990, split by the 89th in 2003; Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three Members.
• Civil-court powers while investigating; annual reports with an action-taken memorandum; governments must consult them on major policy.
• National Commission for Backward Classes: statutory from 1993, constitutional under Article 338B (102nd Amendment, 2018); 105th Amendment (2021) restored State lists after the Maratha case.
• Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B, 7th Amendment 1956): investigates safeguards such as Article 350A and reports to the President.
• Advocate General (Article 165) and Attorney General (Article 76): appointed during pleasure; High Court versus Supreme Court qualifications; speak but cannot vote in the legislature.
• Statutory: NHRC (1993), CVC (2003, after Vineet Narain), Lokpal (2013); executive: CBI (1963 resolution, DSPE Act 1946 powers), NITI Aayog (2015).

Practice questions

Sources

• Constitution of India, Articles 76, 88, 148–151, 165, 177, 338, 338A, 338B, 342A, 350A and 350B — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india/
• Comptroller and Auditor-General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971; Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956; (Sixty-fifth) 1990; (Eighty-ninth) 2003; (One Hundred and Second) 2018; (One Hundred and Fifth) 2021; National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993; Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993; Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003; Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946; Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 — https://www.indiacode.nic.in
• Supreme Court of India: Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992); Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1997); Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil v. Chief Minister of Maharashtra (2021) — https://digiscr.sci.gov.in
• Constituent Assembly Debates, discussion of the provisions on the Comptroller and Auditor-General — https://eparlib.nic.in
• Government of India, Cabinet Secretariat resolution constituting NITI Aayog (1 January 2015) — https://www.niti.gov.in