The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Comptroller and Auditor General to swiftly audit the accounts of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) from 2018 to 2021. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora was hearing Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana’s petition seeking direction for a CAG audit of the DJB’s accounts, which allegedly hadn’t been audited for several years.

The court was informed that CAG had received annual account statements from DJB for 2018-19 to 2020-21 and was currently in the process of auditing them. While the court closed the proceedimgs, it directed CAG to conduct the audit promptly, in accordance with the law.

The petition urged the DJB to maintain proper accounts and prepare annual financial statements as per the law. The DJB responded, saying its efforts were to ensure transparency and compliance. It called the petition as politically motivated, saying that the allegations were baseless.

The CAG clarified to the court that the delay in audit wasn’t due to negligence on its part but because the accounts were not provided for auditing. Despite multiple requests, the DJB and the Delhi government had not provided the necessary accounts. The petitioner said that responses to RTIs revealed the balance sheets for the years 2015-16 onwards were under preparation.

The plea stressed the importance of maintaining financial accounts and conducting annual audits for ensuring accountability and transparency in the functioning of state and local bodies. In light of these arguments, the court directed CAG to expedite the audit process, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and fostering transparency in DJB’s operations.

(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)