K Sanjay Murthy to be next Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who is he?

President Droupadi Murmu, exercising her power under Article 148 of the Constitution, appointed K Sanjay Murthi as the new CAG. Murthy will succeed Girish Chandra Murmu, who had assumed charge of the office in 2020.

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed K Sanjay Murthy, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The govt notification released on Monday stated, "By virtue of the power vested in her by clause (1) of article 148 of the Constitution of India, the President has been pleased to appoint K Sanjay Murthy to be the Comptroller and Auditor General of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office."

Murthy will succeed incumbent CAG, Girish Chandra Murmu, who assumed office on August 8, 2020. Before assuming the charge of CAG, Murmu served as the first Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

Who K Sanjay Murthi is?

Murthy is an IAS officer of the 1989 batch belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He is presently the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education in the Union Ministry of Education. As per the notification issued by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the Union Finance Ministry, Murthy will be CAG "with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office."

Powers of CAG

Notably, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is empowered to audit all departments of the union and state government, including railways, defence, India Post, and telecommunications among others. Along with that, the CAG is authorised to audit over 1,500 public commercial enterprises, over 400 non-commercial autonomous bodies and various bodies and authorities financed by union government bodies and local bodies, Panchayati raj institutions. 

The CAG also has the authority to examine all transactions within, go through records and call the executive for question. CAG is empowered through Article 149 of the Constitution which is called the "CAG's Duties, Powers and Conditions Act in 1971."

The act describes the scope of the domain of the CAG which encompasses almost every spending, revenue collecting or aid/grant receiving unit of the Centre and the States. The 

Furthermore, the CAG is assisted by the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD) to perform its constitutional role. The office has around 600 top and middle-managerial-level officers. Additionally, the office has a "subordinate cadre" of around 47,000.

(With inputs from agencies)