Fonds LK-NA/137 - Department of Auditor-General

In 1799 there had been an Auditor General by the name of Cecil Smith. His designation was Accountant and Auditor-General. But there is no information as to the precise nature of his functions. From his designation it might be inferred that he discharged dual functions namely that of Accountant, presumably at the Treasury and also that of Auditor-General responsible for the Audit of Governments Accounts which would have included those of the Treasury as well. The year 1806 marks an important change in the designation signifying presumably the removal of the accounting functions from the Head of the Audit Department the designation was altered to "' Civil Auditor General".
The separate existence of the Audit Office continued for the next 35 years until Britain decided to increase the scope of its functions. It was then amalgamated with the part of the Treasury in 1841 and placed under one of the highest Government Officials of the time who combined in himself the three important offices of the Auditor General, Accountant General and Controller of Revenue. The high executive position held by this officer in his capacity as controller of Revenue secured for him a seat in the Executive Council of the day through which the Government of the time was carried on by a succession of colonial Governors from Britain. Though no doubt, this arrangement helped to raise the status of the Auditor General it cannot but regarded as retrograde from the point of view of the effectiveness of Audit.
The Audit Department continued this arrangement for a period of 66 years until the year 1907, when the separation of the Audit office from the Treasury Dept., took place.
While the Department continued its separate existence since then the designation of its head underwent a change of that of Auditor General in the year 1931 with the introduction of the Donoughmore Constitution. This designation continues todate.
The Donoghmore Constitution of 1931 defined the functions of Audit with some degree of elaboration but the Soulbury Constitution of Ceylon which replaced the Donoughmore Constitution in 1947 restated the functions and powers of Audit in a more general fashion. As a precise statement would only act as a limitation such a generalisation was considered to give the Auditor General a larger degree of scope. Though these two constitutions provided for the accounts of Government Departments to be audited by the Auditor-General, there was no provision for the audit by the Auditor-General of the accounts of local authentic or State Corporation. Until the adoption of a new constitution in 1972 which declared Ceylon as the 'Republic of Sri Lanka" these institutions were being audited by the Auditor General
The present constitution of Sri Lanka came into effect on September 7, 1978, has the following provisions on the government State Audit.
Article 153 (l) There shall be an Auditor-General who shall be appointed by the President and who shall hold office during good behaviour.
(2) The salary of the Auditor-General shall be determined by parliament shall be charged on the consolidated fund and shall not be diminished during his term of office.
The Department of the Auditor-General is not assigned to any Minister and in terms of article 52 it does not come under the supervision of any officer of any Ministry as it is deemed not to be a Department of Govt., for such purpose.
Article 154 of the Constitution which deals with the duties and functions of the Auditor-General defined his responsibilities in paragraph (1) there of as follows
"The Auditor-General shall Audit the Accounts of all Departments of Government, the office of the Cabinet of Ministers the Judicial Service Commission, the parliament and the Commissioner of Elections, local authorities, public corporations and business or other undertaking vested in the Government under any written law".
Paragraph (5) of article 154 entitles the Auditor -General to have access to all books and records to stores and other property and to be furnished with such information and explanation as may be necessary for the performance and discharge of his duties and functions.