CAG flags non-cooperation and non-production of records by HR&CE Dept. for audit

A compliance audit on the general superintendence and control of the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department over temples and their endowments could not be carried out due to non-cooperation and non-production of records by the department, K.P. Anand, Principal Accountant General (Audit -II), Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, said on Tuesday.

Elaborating on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India-Compliance Audit pertaining to the Government of Tamil Nadu for the period ending on March 31, 2022, Mr. Anand said the HR&CE Department had huge assets, and the CAG wanted to audit it. He pointed out that similar audits were being done in other States.

“Due to non-cooperation and non-production of records, the audit could not discharge its duty of giving assurances on the actual revenue being collected, or whether there is a leakage in revenue realisation causing loss to the exchequer due to non/short collection of lease rent from the assets of the temples,” according to the CAG report.

It said a compliance audit on the topic, ‘Management of Assets by HR&CE Department’ was taken up, and it was proposed to be conducted from May 2022 and cover the period from 2019-2022. An intimation letter was forwarded to the Principal Secretary to Government, HR&CE Department, on April 29, 2022, requesting information regarding the assets managed by the department. In response to the request, the Commissioner, HR&CE Department, was directed to do the needful.

However, when the audit commenced in May 2022, the department replied (on May 27, 2022) that there was no jurisdiction for the scrutiny of records pertaining to religious institutions, and that the scope of the audit was to be restricted to the funds released from the consolidated fund of the State. In view of the stand taken by the department, the team deputed for the compliance audit was forced to withdraw immediately. The department’s stand was not correct, since the audit had intended to focus on issues relating to the implementation of the provisions of the Act by the HR&CE Department with reference to the records mandated to be maintained by the head/field offices, which would come under the purview of the audit, the CAG report said.

The non-cooperation of the department was taken up with the Principal Secretary, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments Department (in June 2022), and was escalated to the level of Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu twice (June and August 2022). In June 2023, the government replied that the temples/ religious institutions or the HR&CE Department did not come under the purview of the CAG’s DPC Act, 1971, and the HR&CE Department did not own any assets. It also said the grants released by the government alone could be audited under Section 14 of the DPC Act.

The reply was not tenable as the government was entitled to collect 4%-12% of income generated from the assets of the temples as lease rent and remitted to the administrative fund maintained by the government. To ensure the correctness of realisation of the lease rent to the government, the audit needed to ascertain the total income from the assets of the religious institution and expenditure on pay and allowances of the HR&CE Department by virtue of Sections 13, 16 and 23 of the DPC Act, the CAG said.