PAC has limited role: High Court

SHILLONG: After L.M. Sangma, Special Secretary to Law department filed an affidavit on the functions and constitution of the Committee of Public Accounts of Meghalaya, the High Court on Thursday observed that the PAC has limited role to play in the matter of disbursement of compensation.
“We have carefully gone through the provisions and the one area which the Chairman of        the Public Accounts Committee seems to have misconstrued and misunderstood by asking the officers like the Deputy Commissioner to appear before him to give the account of disbursement under Article 241(1)(2)(a) regarding money shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available for, and applicable to, the service or purpose to which they had been applied or charged”.
According to the Full Bench of the High Court, under this clause there is a very limited role of Public Accounts Committee except to ensure that the “money shown in the accounts have been provided in accordance with law and are applicable to, the service or purpose for which they have been applied and charged”.
Thereafter, the business of the Committee has to stop, the High Court asserted.
“If there is any irregularity in disbursement, it is for the State government to proceed on administrative side against the officer found to be responsible or for the aggrieved party to institute appropriate proceedings before the Reference Court under the Land Acquisition Act, which we have also observed in our last order” the Court said, while adding that the Advocate General is very articulate and emphatic in saying that the issue of disbursement of compensation does not fall within the domain of the Public Accounts Committee.