CAG denies malfeasance in transfer of auditors

New Delhi: The CAG on Friday denied any malfeasance in the transfer of auditors connected with reports that unearthed alleged irregularities in the Centre’s flagship Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat schemes, saying transfers and postings are a matter of administrative convenience, and attaching ulterior motives to these is highly presumptuous.

In a statement, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said audit reports went through multiple hands before being approved by the highest authority for tabling in Parliament. “To set the record straight, matters of transfer and postings are a matter of administrative convenience and to read ulterior motives into these is highly presumptuous,” the auditor to the government said. The statement came after the Congress criticised the government for reportedly transferring auditors Atoorva Sinha and Dattaprasad Surkayant Shirsa who were in charge of audit reports scrutinising the Dwarka Expressway project, and Ashok Sinha, who had initiated the audit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.