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2014 (1) TMI 661 - HC - Indian LawsPower of the CAG of India to conduct revenue audit of telecommunication companies – Held that:- The bodies or authorities accounts would be subject to an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India would be the ones as suggested by the petitioners and that the private telecom companies would not be the bodies or authorities conceived of by Article 149 of the Constitution of India - the interpretation of every statutory provision must keep pace with changing concepts and values and it must, to the extent to which its language permits or rather does not prohibit, suffer adjustments through judicial interpretation so as to accord with the requirement of the fast changing society which is undergoing rapid social and economic transformation. Under the terms of the licence agreement the licensee has undertaken the accounting responsibility for the Central Government as well as itself - the accounts of the licensees, in relation to the revenue receipts can be said to be the accounts of the Central Government and thus subject to a revenue audit as per Section 16 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. Neither Rule 5 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Service Providers (Maintenance of Books of Accounts and other Documents) Rules, 2002 is ultra vires Section 16 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 nor is Section 16 ultra vires Article 149 of the Constitution of India - The Rule and the Section fits perfectly into the constitutional scheme of every rupee flowing into the Consolidated Fund of India, by way of revenue, to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India - The Rule, the Section and the constitutional provisions as interpreted by us perfectly fit the critical features of the new emerging regulatory State which has to reconstruct institution on the ruins of the club government requiring displacing the key feature of the club with standardization and formality - the provision of systematic information accessible both to insiders and outsiders and strengthening the control mechanism and public reporting – Decided against Petitioner.
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