The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to “take instructions” while orally expressing that the court is “inclined to stay the audit” initiated by CAG of a registered society representative of the khadims or hereditary priests at Ajmer Dargah.
Justice Sachin Datta was dealing with a request for an early hearing of a petition moved by Anjuman Moinia Fakhria Chishtiya Khuddam Khwaja Sahib Syedzadgan and Shakhzadgan, two registered societies and representative bodies of hereditary priests who carry out traditional and religious activities at the Ajmer dargah.
The petitioners said they are not the administrators of the properties, assets or funds of the dargah estate. The dargah already has a committee under the Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, constituted by the Centre, for the management of the estate. The petitioners said they only receive charitable contributions and do not receive any grant or fund from the government, and thus there is no ground for CAG to audit their accounts, which is otherwise a private registered society.
The petition was moved for an early hearing where the petitioners sought that CAG be restrained from conducting an audit of the society, highlighting that it would be in utter contravention of the provisions of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971.
As per the petitioners, the mandatory statutory procedure for such audits, as set out in Section 20 of the CAG Act, stipulates that the ministry concerned should send a communication to CAG. The communication should seek to have the petitioner society audited by CAG, the terms and conditions based on which the audit should be conducted, be agreed upon between CAG and the ministry concerned, and subsequently the said terms and conditions be served on the petitioner, following which the petitioner is entitled to make a representation to ministry concerned. It also requires, first, the President’s or Governor’s assent before the terms of audit are agreed to.
While considering the early hearing application, and addressing CAG’s counsel, Justice Datta orally remarked, “I’m inclined to stay the audit. You’d better clarify your stand and take instructions on what you’re doing. His point is very clear. He has a right to representation. First, you have to agree to the terms otherwise [Section] 20C (of the CAG Act) is very difficult. The occasion has not arisen. He hasn’t been served even with the order.”
The petitioners highlighted before the court that a committee has been formed for the audit, and is making the pending petition infructuous, despite receiving no presidential assent before issuance of notice.
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A notice was issued on March 15, 2024, by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, upon instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), notifying the khadims of the audit, “to improve the administration and management of Dargah affairs at Ajmer”. The notice was challenged before the Delhi High Court, and during its pendency, CAG moved on with the audit, with the Ministry of Finance notifying that it had received presidential assent for the audit, and a committee had been formed for the same.
The court has now kept the matter for further consideration on May 7.
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