 bill no  1  of  2015 the  constitution (amendment) bill, 2015 byshri baijayant panda, mp a billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 this act may be called the constitution (amendment) act, 2015short title2 in article 148 of the constitution, in clause (1), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely :—amendment of article(a) the prime minister- chairperson;(b) the speaker of the house of the people- member;(c) the leader of opposition in the house of the - member;people(d) the leader of opposition in the council of- member;states5(e) the incumbent comptroller and auditor-- membergeneral of india10provided further that the committee shall recommend the name of the person to be appointed under this article by a majority of votes of all the members of the committee" statement of objects and reasonsthe office of the comptroller and auditor-general of india (cag), first constituted in1850, is one of the oldest institutions in the country the basic role of the institution remains the same today, as when first constituted, ie, to undertake audit of expenditure of public moneyin the recent past, cag reports have been credited with highlighting grave discrepancies in expenditure of public money and policies in particular, the reports on the xixth commonwealth games and the reports on the allocation of 2g spectrum and coal blocks gained a lot of traction among the people this led to demands for strict action against erring officials, politicians and businessmenthe cag acts as the custodian of the public purse and provides parliament with information to ensure accountability and scrutiny of the government the cag can do justice to this role only if he is competent and also independent in order to be truly independent, the cag must be free from both the control of the government and also from political biasunder the present scheme prescribed under the constitution, the president while acting on the advice of the council of ministers appoints the cag for a fixed term of six years therefore, it is the prerogative of the government to select a suitable cag this has raised the concern about a 'compromised' appointment process the cag is a watchdog that assists parliament in keeping the government in check therefore, any government which is at the receiving end of the cag's riveting scrutiny is likely to appoint an ineffective, pliant and biased person as cagin order to ensure that the competence and the independence of the cag does not depend on the righteousness of the government in power, it is important to amend the constitution to prescribe an appointment procedure that safeguards this important constitutional office from undue interference accordingly, this bill proposes that the cag should be appointed on the recommendation of a committee consisting of:(a) the prime minister; (b) the speaker of the lok sabha; (c) the leader of opposition in the lok sabha; (d) the leader of opposition in the rajya sabha; and (e) the incumbent comptroller and auditor-general of indiathe committee has been mandated to take a decision by simple majority the architect of our constitution, dr br ambedkar believed that the cag is "probably the most important officer under the constitution of india" if this functionary is to carry out the duties of his office effectively, without fear or favour, we must ensure his independencehence this bill annexure extract from the constitution of india       chapter v—comptroller and  auditor-general of  india148 (1) there shall be a comptroller and auditor-general of india who shall be appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as the judge of the supreme courtcomptroller and auditor- general of india       lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india————(shri baijayant panda, mp)gmgipmrnd—4152ls(s3)—04-02-2015