Leader the opposition the lok sabha

Constitutional bodies are important bodies in India that derive their powers and authorities from the Indian Constitution like the Election Commission of India, Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) etc. while statutory bodies like NHRC, CVC, CIC derive their powers and authority from statuettes or acts of Parliament. Institutional Independence has an inverse relationship with external influences over the authorities. Institutional independence, argues Pradeep Mehta is necessary for the healthy functioning of political and economic democracy.

Some of the primary issues surrounding the smooth functioning of constitutional and statutory bodies are highlighted by Devesh Kapur and P.B. Mehta:

•Lack of prudent leadership: Prudent leadership plays a huge role in institutional success for example the role played by T.N. Seshan in 1990’s in improving credibility and performance of ECI. Increasing politicised appointments to constitutional bodies like ECI and CAG also impact the performance of these institutions.

•Discretion to Accountability: There is an urgent need to improve and strengthen the working of RTI and citizen charters to improve the working of both constitutional and statutory bodies. Similarly, NCRWC suggested that operations of the office of the CAG itself should be subject to scrutiny by an independent body. To fulfil the canons of accountability, a system of external audit of C&AG's organization should be adopted for both the Union and the State level organizations.