BJP sees conflict of interest in CAG on Shashi Kant Sharma's appointment

NEW DELHI: The BJP has said the appointment of defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma as Comptroller and Auditor General can lead to a potential conflict of interest since he will be auditing defence deals as well.

A day after Aam Admi Party leader Prashant Bhushan threatened legal action against the appointment, BJP’s senior leader Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday, “I am not commenting on him as an individual…But in government budget, the biggest expenditure is on defence. If the auditing is on this issue, he is himself auditing it. Is it appropriate?”

Jaitley, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, however, stopped short of protesting Sharma’s appointment. Asked if BJP was opposing the defence secretary’s appointment as CAG, he said, “I am not talking of him as a person. I am talking of institutional conflict of interest.” Jaitley was speaking at a press conference, along with his Lok Sabha counterpart Sushma Swaraj.