Shashi Kant Sharma

Shashi Kant Sharma is the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.^[1] He succeeded Vinod Rai as the supreme auditor of the Constitutional body on 23 May 2013.^[2] In July 2014 he assumed office as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditor General for a term of six years.^[3]

Early life and education

Mr. Sharma belongs to the 1976 batch of IAS (Bihar cadre).He has B.Sc.from university of allahabad ,and an M.Sc. in Administrative Science and Development Problems from University of York, and an M.A. in Political Science from Agra University.^[4]

Appointment as CAG

Since taking over as C&AG of India, Mr. Sharma has finalized more than 55 Audit Reports for the Union Government and 165 Audit Reports for the State Governments. Some of these reports relate to critical issues, such as the Audit of Pricing Mechanism of Major Petroleum Products, Audit of Hydrocarbon Production Sharing Contracts, Reports on Defence Services (Air Force and Navy), PPP Projects in NHAI, Defence Services (Army and Ordnance Factories and Defence PSUs), and Audit of Refit of Indian Naval Ships.

He was elected by the General Assembly of United Nations as a Member of the UN Board of Auditors in 2014 for a term of six years. His other international responsibilities include Member of UN Panel of External Auditors, Chair of the Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services Committee of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), Chair of the Working Group of INTOSAI on I.T. Audit. He was also the Chairman of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) until February 2015, and is currently a member of its Governing Board.

In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Prashant Bhushan questioned the selection of former Defence Secretary, saying that there was conflict of interest in this appointment as CAG. ^[5] The manner in which his appointment had been made adversely was thought of to possibly affect the perception of impartiality that is necessary for an independent constitutional office-holder.^[6]The Delhi High Court, by a detailed judgement in the Writ Petitions no 4653/2013 and WP 4619/2013 dated 13.08.2014, held that the appointment did not violate the principles of institutional integrity nor was the appointment arbitrary. The Hon’ble Court observed that he has an unblemished and impeccable record, and that his integrity cannot be doubted. ^[7] The Petitioners challenged the Delhi High Court judgement before the Supreme Court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court, in its order in SLP No.24328/2014 on February 11, 2015, dismissed the petition by holding that there was no good ground to interfere in the High Court's judgement and order. ^[8] It did not accept Prashant Bhushan's plea for examining the appointment of Sharma as CAG, a Constitutional post, on the mere apprehension of conflict of interest. The Hon’ble Court accepted the submission of the Attorney General that Shri Sharma had an exceptional career without blemish.^[9]

Career time line

Mr. Sharma has wide experience in the fields of Public Administration, Financial Services and Infrastructure Development. In his State cadre, he served as District Magistrate/Collector/Deputy Commissioner in the districts of Patna, Singhbhum, Palamau and Bhagalpur. He also served as Labour Commissioner of Bihar, Managing Director of Bokaro Industrial Area Development Authority; and as Secretary in the Departments of Road Construction, Urban Development and Excise in the Government of Bihar.

Mr. Sharma, from December 2003 till his superannuation in 2013, apart from three tenures in other ministries, was a key functionary in the Ministry of Defence.^[6]

• December 2003-February 2007, Joint secretary, MOD
• February–April 2007, Additional Secretary, MOD
• April- August, 2007, Additional Secretary,Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
• August 2007 - November, 2009, Additional Secretary, DG (Acquisition), MOD
• November, 2009-September 2010, Secretary, DG (Acquisition), MOD
• September 2010- February 2011,Secretary, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
• February–July 2011,Secretary,Ministry of Finance
• July 2011- May 2013, Defense Secretary, MOD

Term as Defence Secretary

Mr. Sharma served as Defence Secretary, Government of India, from July 2011 to May 2013. Prior to this, he was a Joint Secretary and the Director General (Acquisitions) in the Ministry of Defence (MOD). A long and eventful tenure in the MOD saw him oversee most of the major Defence acquisitions of the past decade, and also manage a series of crises.^[10]

As Defence Secretary, he played an active role in the response of Government and the Ministry of Defence to the date of birth controversy of General Vijay Kumar Singh, the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS).^[11] The MOD had maintained that the date of birth of the General V K Singh was 10 May 1950. Despite this, the General approached the Supreme Court in 2012 on the issue. The Supreme Court, in its order dated 10 February 2012 in WP ( C) no 26 of 2012, took note of the stand of the MOD and disposed of the petition of General Singh as withdrawn. ^[12]

References