§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether any alteration has been made in the position of the Auditor General of Indian Accounts?
MR. GRANT DUFFsaid, in reply, that till very recently, the Auditor of Indian Accounts held two appointments. One he held under an Act of Parliament, and its duties were to audit the Home accounts of the Government of India, in other words, to check any appropriation of the funds of India by the Secretary of State in Council to non Indian purposes. The other he held at the will of the Secretary of State in Council and its duties were to examine all claims preferred by Departments of the Imperial Government, chiefly the War Office and the Admiralty, against the Indian Government. His position, it will thus appear, was somewhat anomalous, one partly independent, and partly dependent. All that, however, had been changed; and the business which had formerly been transacted by the Auditor under the Secretary of State in Council had been transferred to the head of the Financial Department. The Auditor, therefore, now simply examined and checked the Home accounts of the Government of India under the Act of Parliament; and for that he received the full salary of £1,000 a year.