Section 11 in Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Issue and Disposal of Audit Reports of Panchayat Union Council and District Panchayat) Rules, 2000
11. Sending of audit reports and special report on serious irregularities.
(1)The Assistant Director of Local Fund Audit shall send the audit report on the accounts of a panchayat union council or district panchayat to the Commissioner or Secretary, as the case may be, within thirty days of the completion of audit by the subordinate auditors, send a copy of audit report to the Assistant Director of Rural Development (Audit) of the district and to the Inspector concerned. In addition to this, he shall also submit to the Director of Local Fund Audit, copies of objections involving serious financial and other persistent irregularities for further action, who may communicate such of those audit objections which, in his opinion, are serious in nature, to the Government for such action as may be found necessary.(2)The auditor shall communicate copies of objections to the Commissioner or Secretary, as the case may be, in whose period the expenditure in question, was incurred in cases where it is considered that he is personally responsible for the expenditure and obtain his acknowledgement. The personal responsibility shall arise in a case where the Commissioner or Secretary, as the case may be, has taken an exceptional or different decision, departing from the office advice, for incurring an expenditure which has given room for the objection or cannot be recovered from the recipient legally. When the present Commissioner or Secretary, as the case may be, can and has to take effective action to fix responsibility and recover the amount either from the recipient of money legally or from the officials who administratively tendered wrong advice, such cases should not be considered as matters for which the past Commissioner or Secretary, as the case may be, is personally responsible. In cases, where the limitation of time stands in the way of lawful recovery of an objected expenditure, only the officials who were in office, from the date of receipt of audit report to the crucial date of time bar, shall be considered as responsible for not initiating action for recovery before the date of time bar and action shall be taken to fix responsibility for the reported loss, on the principle of contributory negligence and joint responsibility.
