Public Accounts Committee (India)

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a committee of selected members of Parliament, constituted by the Parliament of India, for the auditing of the expenditure of the Government of India.

The PAC is formed every year with a strength of not more than 22 members of which 15 are from Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, and 7 from Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament.[1] The term of office of the members is one year. The Chairman is appointed by the Speaker of Lok Sabha. Since 1967, the chairman of the committee is selected from the opposition. Earlier, it was headed by a member of the ruling party. Its chief function is to examine the audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) after it is laid in the Parliament. CAG assists the committee during the course of investigation. None of the 22 members shall be a minister in the government.

The present PAC is headed by Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas, Senior Congress MP of Ernakulum Constituency, Kerala. The term of office of members of the Committee does not exceed one year at a time.[2]

Probes

2G spectrum scam

In 2011, the Public Accounts Committee probed the 2G spectrum scam which brought the committee to public attention.[3][4] The committee, on 4 April 2011, summoned Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, and Niira Radia, corporate lobbyist regarding the scam.[3][4] The PAC asked Congress members to apologise to Comptroller and Auditor General of India for making allegations against it.[5]

Chairpersons of the Public Accounts Committee

1. Mr. W.M. Hailey 1921
2. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1922
3. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1923
4. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1924
5. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1925
6. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1926
7. Sir Basil P. Blackett 1927
8. Sir Bhupendra Nath Mitra 1928
9. Sir George Schuster 1929
10. Sir George Schuster 1930
11. Sir George Schuster 1931
12. Sir Alan Parsons 1932
13. Mr. A.H. Lloyd 1933
14. Sir James Grigg 1934
15. Sir James Grigg 1935
16. Sir James Grigg 1936
17. Mr. J.C. Nixon 1937
18. Sir James Grigg 1938
19. Sir Jeremy Raisman 1939
20. Sir Jeremy Raisman 1940
21. Sir Jeremy Raisman 1941
22. Mr. C.E. Jones 1942
23. Sir Jeremy Raisman 1943
24. Sir Cyril Jones 1944
25. Sir Archibald Rowlands 1945
26. Sir Eric Coates 1946
Dr. John Matthai
Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan
27. Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan 1947
Shri R.K. Shanmukham Chetty
28. Shri R.K. Shanmukham Chetty 1948
Dr. John Matthai
29. Dr. John Matthai 1949
30. Shri B. Das 1950-51
31. Shri B. Das 1951-52
32. Shri B. Das 1952-53
33. Shri B. Das 1953-54
34. Shri B. Das 1954-55
35. Shri V.B. Gandhi 1955-56
36. Shri V.B. Gandhi 1956-57
37. Shri T.N. Singh 1957-58
38. Shri T.N. Singh 1958-59
Prof. N.G. Ranga
39. Dr. P. Subbarayan 1959-60
Shri Upendranath Barman
40. Shri Upendranath Barman 1960-61
41. Shri C.R. Pattabhi Raman 1961-62
42. Shri Mahavir Tyagi 1962-63
43. Shri Mahavir Tyagi 1963-64
Shri R.K. Khadilkar
44. Shri R.R. Morarka 1964-65
45. Shri R.R. Morarka 1965-66
46. Shri R.R. Morarka 1966-67
47. Shri M.R. Masani 1967-68
48. Shri M.R. Masani 1968-69
49. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1969-70
50. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1970-71
51. Shri Era Sezhiyan 1971-72
52. Shri Era Sezhiyan 1972-73
53. Shri Jyotirmoy Basu 1973-74
54. Shri Jyotirmoy Basu 1974-75
55. Shri H.N. Mukherjee 1975-76
56. Shri H.N. Mukherjee 1976-77
57. Shri C.M. Stephen 1977-78
58. Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao 1978-79
59. Shri T.A. Pai 1979-80 (upto 30.7.79)
Shri R. Venkataraman 1979-80 (w.e.f. 2.8.79)
60. Shri Chandrajit Yadav 1980-81
61. Shri Satish Agarwal 1981-82
62. Shri Satish Agarwal 1982-83
63. Shri Sunil Maitra 1983-84
64. Shri Sunil Maitra 1984
65. Shri E. Ayyapu Reddy 1985-86
66. Shri E. Ayyapu Reddy 1986-87
67. Shri Amal Datta 1987-88
68. Shri Amal Datta 1988-89
69. Shri P. Kolandaivelu 1989 (upto 27.11.89)
70. Shri Sontosh Mohan Dev 1990-91
71. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1991-92
72. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1992-93
73. Shri Bhagwan Shankar Rawat 1993-94
74. Shri Bhagwan Shankar Rawat 1994-95
75. Shri Ram Naik 1995-96
76. Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi 1996-97
77. Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi 1997-98
78. Shri Manoranjan Bhakta 1998-99
79. Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari 1999-2000
80. Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari 2000-2001
81. Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari 2001-2002 (upto 1.3.2002)
Shri N. Janardhana Reddy 2001-2002 (w.e.f. 15.3.2002 to 30.4.2002)
82. Sardar Buta Singh 2002-2003
83. Sardar Buta Singh 2003-2004 (upto 6.2.2004)
84. k v Thomas 2013-2014

85. Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas 2014-2015

[6] [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Public Accounts Committee
  2. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/KV-Thomas-takes-over-as-PAC-chairman/articleshow/40491640.cms. Retrieved 2014-08-21. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hindu
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Indian Express
  5. ↑ http://business-standard.com/india/news/cong-members-should-apologise-to-cag-pac/456384/
  6. ↑ http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/11.pdf
  7. ↑ http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/11.pdf

External links