The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch. (Quoting Michael Armstrong)
We talk of accountability of government and government agencies, public companies and NGOs. Then there is accountability of individuals – those working in a group or team as well as in their individual capacity. Accountability of an individual is not restricted only to his work but extends to his family and the social circle within which he moves.
At times accountability is fixed by law, rules and regulations. This can be considered as the statutory accountability. In every civilised society there are regulators appointed under various statutes which seek accountability from organisations and individuals. There regulators oversee that organisations and individuals remain accountable.
When it comes to governments and organisations (commercial or otherwise), transparency in their affairs often brings about better accountability. That has been the genesis of ‘Right to Information’. Generally, when governments and organisations have to disclose more, their policies, decisions and actions are such that they become more accountable. After all, sunlight is the best disinfectant!
It is also a fact that the scope of statutory accountability in various fields has been increasing. This is true of various professions, professionals as well as organisations. May be this is due to the fact that there is an attempt from those accountable to limit their accountability.
An auditor may feel that he is accountable only to the shareholders to whom he reports. But today, he is accountable, responsible and liable not only to the shareholders, but also to many other stakeholders like potential investors, lenders, employees of the company and many more.
When CAG questions decisions and actions of the Government, his powers and jurisdiction are questioned and thus avoiding accountability.
Political parties talk of being accountable to people, serving the people. But when it comes to being transparent about their affairs, these parties take shelter behind technicalities. All major political parties are united in opposing the recent order of the Central Information Commission holding political parties as ‘Public Authorities’ and ordering them to disclose information. There is even the talk of promulgating an Ordinance to amend the Right to Information Act to keep the political parties outside the purview of the RTI.
Often, there is a conflict (either perceived or real) while doing one’s duty when one is accountable in more than one way or to those whose interests may be conflicting. Such a conflict is not unique to one profession but it may arise in various situations. For example, a bureaucrat or a police officer is accountable to his political master, his colleagues and also to the public (not necessarily in that order). Given our system, one can imagine the plight of an honest government servant. This may happen to a lawyer, a chartered accountant, an independent director, or for that matter any person. These are tricky situations where one needs to reason, reconcile, muster courage and above all, listen to one’s conscience. Certainly, this is not easy.
Accountability of media – whether it is the print media or the electronic media – is another area which raises a lot of debate. No doubt, the media has played a yeoman role in drawing public attention to scams, corruption, and the plight of people who have suffered injustice. Media depends on news and at times on creating news, sensationalising events and conducting trial by media under the garb of debates. The controversy raised by Radia tapes which disclosed the role played by some senior journalists in government affairs or promoting certain industrial houses is still fresh in mind. Freedom of speech and expression is of utmost importance and media plays and has an important role in safeguarding that. It can do that only if the media itself is accountable and takes that accountability seriously.
Rules and regulations may impose accountability. But the true accountability is “the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions”. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accountability) It is a state of mind, a sense of doing one’s duty with clear conscience.
In this Special Issue, we bring you articles from respected persons from various fields – Mr. S. E. Dastur, Senior Advocate, Padmashree Mr. T. N. Manoharan, past President of our Institute and Mr. Jaideep Bose, Editorial Director, the Times of India dealing with the issue of accountability and duty. My special thanks to each of them for sharing their thoughts. This month, the features – Namaskar, Accounting World and RTI also deal, directly or indirectly, with the issue of accountability.
With this issue of the Journal, I pass the baton to Mr. Anil Sathe who will take over as the Editor of this Journal.
