Who will audit the super auditor?

ISLAMABAD: Who will audit the super auditor? This question has sparked a constitutional fight between the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) — the supreme audit authority of the country — and the Ministry of Finance, which has tried to turn the tables by initiating an audit of the AGP itself.

At the core of the dispute is the AGP's claim to constitutional autonomy and the Finance Ministry’s attempt to use Section 19A of the Auditor General’s Ordinance — inserted via the Finance Act 2015 — to conduct an external audit of the AGP’s sanctioned expenditures.

The AGP refused to comply, leading to a legal battle. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled in AGP's favour, but the Finance Ministry filed an intra-court appeal. The court declared the Finance Act amendment unconstitutional and struck it down, affirming that the AGP is answerable only to the President of Pakistan — not to any executive authority.

When approached, a spokesman for the AGP office said that the Ministry of Finance is an executive body. It cannot audit a constitutional office that audits the government itself. 

It is stated that the AGP audits all federal and provincial government departments, public corporations and autonomous bodies. However, the office maintains that no executive agency can audit the AGP, which the spokesman insists is answerable to the president only.

It is further explained that the AGP does conduct internal audits of its sub-offices and headquarters. However, for external validation, it does not accept any authority within Pakistan and instead follows what it calls a globally accepted practice known as peer review — evaluations carried out by fellow supreme audit institutions.

Last year, a peer review was conducted by the audit authority of Saudi Arabia, under the direction of then-president Dr Arif Alvi. The spokesman further said that the peer review assesses professional standards, not financial transactions. He added that the AGP’s peer reviews are conducted by institutions of equal status like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, etc.

Finance Ministry sources, however, said that Section 19A, inserted in the Auditor General’s Ordinance 2001 by the Finance Act 2015, provides the legal provision for carrying out audits of the sanctions of expenditure accorded by the Auditor General.

The section states that the President may appoint an independent officer to audit sanctions to expenditure accorded by the Auditor-General. The Auditor General shall produce for inspection all relevant books and documents and provide any information required for the purpose of audit.

In light of this provision, the President appointed an Additional Secretary of the Finance Division in 2020 to carry out the audit of the Auditor General.

Finance Ministry sources added that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly Secretariat also directed the Finance Division to get the audit of the AGP Department conducted immediately.

However, the Auditor General refused to provide documents to the officer appointed to audit the sanctions, and raised objections — including that an external audit of the AGP has never been conducted; that the AGP does not fall within the definition of the federal government; and that the audit of the AGP is limited to an audit of sanctions only.

Government sources said that the Finance Division responded appropriately to the AGP’s observations, quoting constitutional and legal provisions as well as historical context.

Later, two officers of the Auditor General’s office filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court, challenging the government’s (Finance Division's) authority to audit sanctions issued by the Auditor General. 

The Islamabad High Court, on 10.02.2025, decided in favour of the petitioners. The Finance Division has filed an ICA against the order, which is currently pending before the IHC.

Originally published in The News