Sir, I would simply add this much to the observations made by the previous speaker that it has been a painful experience to those of us who have happened to be on the Public Accounts Committee that during the course of 1945 and 1946 or, should I say, prior to partition and independence there have been such serious defects and irregularities in the accounts of the country that we have come to the conclusion that in the best interest of the nation this officer must be completely independent of the executive. I would, in all humility suggest that he should be absolutely free from the control of the executive. I had tabled an amendment, No. 312, that even his “allowances” apart from his salary should be decided not by the President or by the Government but by Parliament. We find that in the case of the judges of the Supreme Court, their salaries and allowances are not in the gift or the Government but are constitutional matters. I would like to go a step further and say that it should not have been left to the discretion of even the Parliament, and the Constitution itself should have provided for it, because it would be in the interests or the nation if this officer is made completely independent. At any rate, there should be no wall or screen between the Legislature and this officer.
