13.
| (1) The Auditor-General shall be the auditor for every public corporation. For the purpose of assisting him in the audit, the Auditor-General may, if he thinks it necessary to do so, employ the services of any qualified auditor or auditors who shall act under his direction and control. |
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| (2) For the purpose of meeting the expenses incurred by him in the audit of the accounts of a public corporation, the Auditor-General shall be paid by the corporation such remuneration as the appropriate Minister may, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, determine. Any remuneration received from the corporation by the Auditor-General shall, after deduction of any sums paid by him to any qualified auditor or auditors employed by him for the purposes of such audit, be credited to the Consolidated Fund. |
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| (3) The Auditor-General shall inspect the accounts, the finances, the management of the finances and the property of a public corporation. The Auditor-General shall as far as possible, and as far as necessary, examine-
| | (a) whether the organization, systems, procedures, books, records and other documents have been properly and adequately designed from the point of view of financial control purposes and from the point of view of the presentation of information to enable a continuous evaluation of the activities of the corporation, and whether such systems, procedures, books, records and other documents are in effective operation; | | |
| | (b) whether the conduct of the corporation has been in accordance with the law, rules and regulations relevant to the corporation and whether there has been fairness in the administration of the corporation; | | |
| | (c) whether there has been economy and efficiency in the commitment of funds and utilization of such funds; | | |
| | (d) whether systems of keeping moneys and the safeguarding of property are satisfactory; | | |
| | (e) whether the accounts audited have been so designed as to present a true and fair view of the affairs of the corporation in respect of the period under consideration due regard being had to principles of accountancy, financing and valuation; and | | |
| | (f) any such other matters as he may deem necessary. | | |
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| (4) The Auditor-General shall at his discretion determine the nature and extent of the audit that shall be carried out in any particular period in respect of any particular public corporation, and may at his discretion dispense with the audit of any particular aspect or aspects relevant to a particular public corporation in the period under review. |
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| (5) The Auditor-General shall have-
The corporation or any person shall comply with any request made by the Auditor-General in the exercise of his above-mentioned rights.
| | (a) the right of access to any books, records, documents and any type of information which is directly or indirectly related to the activities of a public corporation under audit as he deems necessary; | | |
| | (b) the right to call for such information, documents, explanations, reports or other material at any time as in his opinion are necessary for the purposes of the audit; | | |
| | (c) the right to summon any person for examination, and for the production of any documents where such examination or production is considered necessary for the purposes of the audit; | | |
| | (d) the right to require the corporation to settle its minimum internal audit programmes by agreement with the Auditor-General, and the right to give any directions to the corporation with regard to the conduct of the minimum internal audit programmes and the manner of reporting by the internal audit. | | |
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| (6) The accounts of a public corporation for each financial year shall be submitted to the Auditor-General for audit within four months after the close of that year along with any report on the accounts which the Auditor-General may require to be submitted in the manner specified by him. Any such corporation which contravenes or fails to comply with the preceding provisions of this sub-section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall, on conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees. |
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| (7)
| | (a) The Auditor-General shall submit a report to the Chairman of each public corporation within eight months after the close of the financial year to which the report relates dealing with the results of the audit including a report on the accounts examined in the year. Copies of such report shall be forwarded by him where-
| | | (i) the appropriate Minister is the Minister of Finance, to the appropriate Minister; or |
| (ii) the appropriate Minister is not the Minister of Finance, to both the appropriate Minister and the Minister of Finance. |
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| | (b) The Auditor-General may, if he thinks it necessary to do so, also submit to the Chairman of each public corporation interim reports at any time dealing with matters arising from the audit. | | |
| | (c) The Auditor-General shall, within ten months after the close of the financial year, submit a report to the House of Representatives on the results of the audit carried out in respect of each public corporation drawing attention to matters which in his opinion would be of interest to the House of Representatives. | | |
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| (8) The reports referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of sub-section (7) shall be considered by the governing body of a public corporation and after such consideration that body shall inform the Auditor-General of the steps that they propose to take with regard to the matters pointed out in the audit reports within three months of the submission of the reports to the corporation. |
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| (9) For the purposes of this section, the expression " qualified auditor " means-
| | (a) an individual who, being a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ceylon, possesses a certificate to practise as an Accountant, issued by the Council of that Institute; or | | |
| | (b) a firm of Chartered Accountants each of the partners of which being a member of that Institute, possesses a certificate to practise as an Accountant issued by the Council of that Institute;
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| (10) Where a public corporation is guilty of an offence under this Act by reason of a contravention of the provisions of sub-section (6), every member of the governing body of that corporation shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence: |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts