The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a fundamental standing financial committee of the Indian Parliament, serving as a legislative oversight body for public spending. Its origin traces back to the colonial era, having been first set up in 1921 following the Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms). The PAC was created to allow the legislature to scrutinize public expenditure and ensure that funds appropriated by the assembly were utilized as intended, thereby enhancing accountability over executive finances.
The PAC functions under Rule 308 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. It consists of a maximum of 22 members: 15 elected from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha. Members are elected annually through proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, and no minister can be a member. The primary mechanism of the PAC is to examine the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, who is considered the "friend, philosopher, and guide" of the Committee. The PAC scrutinizes the Appropriation Accounts and Finance Accounts to verify that public money was spent legally, efficiently, and within the scope of the demands approved by Parliament.
A significant change occurred in 1967, when a convention was established that the Chairperson of the PAC, appointed by the Lok Sabha Speaker, would invariably be from the Opposition party, a practice that continues to date. This change strengthened the committee's role as a financial watchdog over the executive. The PAC is one of the three financial standing committees, connecting it directly to the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings. Recent developments, such as the reconstituted PAC for 2026–27 under Chairman K. C. Venugopal, have seen the committee proactively select subjects for deliberation, sometimes leading to internal differences over its power to examine matters suo motu (on its own initiative).