Standards / Canons of financial propriety

 

Standards / Canons of financial propriety

 

 ·        Para No. 116 of Financial Code 

 

·        Rule No. 21 of GFR, 2017 (General Finance Rules) of Dept. of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. 

 

·        All sanctioning authorities must pay due regard these rules/principles while exercising their financial powers.  There is false impression, that these are the norms to be followed by financial authorities (Finance officers).  But it is not correct.  All Executives/Officers as sanctioning authorities have conscious of these standards.

 

·        Every Officer should also enforce financial order and strict economy at every step and see that all relevant financial rules and regulations are observed, by his own office and by subordinate disbursing officers.

 

·        Audit officers shall also be responsible for watching that the above principles are strictly observed or not.

 

1.      The expenditure should not prima facie be more than the occasion demands. 

 

         Prima facie means 'at first appearance' or 'before investigation'. A proposal for purchase of chair for officer at a cost of Rs.one lakh need not requires much investigation to sanction the same.  That means on the face itself i.e., cost of the chair Rs. one lakh is not justified to incur expenditure.

 

2.      That every Government servant should exercise' the same vigilance in respect of expenditure incurred from public moneys as a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in respect of the expenditure of his own money.

 

3.      No authority should exercise its powers of sanctioning expenditure to pass an order which will be directly or indirectly to its own advantage.

 

 

4.      Public moneys should not be utilized for the benefit of a particular person or section of the community unless-

a. the amount of expenditure involved is insignificant ; or

b. a claim for the amount could be enforced in a court of law ; or

     c. the expenditure is in pursuance of a recognized policy or custom.

 

5.      The amount of allowances, such as travelling allowances, granted to meet expenditure of a particular type, should be so regulated that the allowances are not on the whole sources of profit to the recipients.

 

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