FORUM OF RECOGNIZED COLLEGES vs STATE AND ORS

Impugned in this writ petition is communication of respondent No. 2 issued vide No. CDC/14/503-1653 dated 18.12.2014 whereby the

Chairpersons/Principals of all Non-Government Colleges affiliated to the University of Jammu had been requested to keep their records ready for

Performance Audit to be conducted by the office of respondent No. 3. The short grievance projected by the petitioner in this writ petition is that the

members of the petitioner forum which is a society registered under the Society Registration Act are private colleges of education affiliated to

University of Jammu and being a pure private/Non-Government entities, they are not subject to the control of respondent No. 3 and, therefore, their

accounts cannot be subject to audit by the respondent No. 3.Â

The respondent No. 3 has filed objections in which the respondent No. 3 has categorically stated that the respondent No. 3 does not intend to

conduct any audit of the accounts of the members of the petitioner- organization and its auditors would only examine the related records in the offices

of State Government/Universities. The respondent No. 2 has requisitioned the record from the petitioner-institutions merely to ascertain whether the

provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Private Colleges (Regulation and Control Act), 2002 and the rules framed there under have been complied with or

not. It is claimed by the respondent No. 3 that it has no intentions to conduct the audit of the accounts of any private colleges or institutions as is being

apprehended by the petitioner-forum.Â

I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.Â

In the Article 149 of the Constitution of India which is applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the duties and powers of the Comptroller and

Auditor-General of India have been clearly delineated. For facility of reference, Article 149 of the Constitution of India is reproduced hereunder:-

“The Comptroller and Auditor-General shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the

States and of any other authority or body as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made,

shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States as were conferred on or exercisable by

the Auditor-General of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution in relation to the accounts of the Dominion of India and of the

Provinces, respectively.â€​

From perusal of the provisions of Article 149, it transpires beyond any doubt that the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India is enjoined to

perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union and of the States and of any authority or body as may be

prescribed by or under any law made by the Parliament. The Constitution, therefore, does not empower the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India

and its functionaries to exercise any power to audit the accounts of purely private bodies. It is not the case of the respondents that the Parliament has

enacted any such law bringing within the purview of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India

the private educational institutions as well. Be that as it is, the fact remains that the respondent No. 3 does not intend to conduct audit of the

petitioner-educational institutions and, therefore, the apprehension of the petitioner is misconceived. As a matter of fact, the respondent No. 3 vide his

communication dated 17.12.2014 has intimated to the respondent No. 2 that an audit team of his office would take up performance audit viz-a-viz the

private colleges in Jammu and Kashmir and, therefore, the records pertaining to such colleges are required to be made available to such audit team for

the aforesaid purpose. Pursuant to the communication of respondent No. 3 dated 17.12.2014, the respondent No. 2 has called upon the colleges to

make available the relevant record in terms of the communication impugned.Â

Learned counsel for the petitioner does not dispute that the respondent No. 3 has all the powers to conduct the performance audit and also the audit

of the office of respondent No. 1 and 2 to find out as to whether at the time of granting No Objection Certificates to the educational institutions, the

provisions of the J&K Private Colleges Act and the rules framed thereunder have been fully complied with or not. For the purpose of conducting the

aforesaid performance audit, the respondent No. 3 would necessarily require the records of the institutions to be perused. It is in these context, the

respondent No. 2 has requested all the educational institutions affiliated to the University of Jammu to make available relevant records so as to enable

the respondent No. 3 to conduct the performance audit. The respondent No. 3 in its reply has made it clear that the audit team has no intentions to

conduct the audit of accounts of any private educational institutions whether or not affiliated to the University of Jammu.Â

That being the position, the apprehension of the petitioner that their accounts would be subjected to audit by the respondent No. 3 is totally

misplaced.

Accordingly, I do not find any merit in this petition and the same is, therefore, dismissed. However, it is made clear that respondent No. 3 would not

conduct any audit of the accounts of the educational institutions who are members of the petitioner-forum but would be well within its rights to conduct

the performance audit as desired by it and communicated to the respondent No. 3 vide its communication dated 17.12.2014. The respondent No. 2

shall also provide all relevant records and assistance to the audit party to be deputed by the respondent No. 3.