The East Bengal Financial Rules

Abstract

The East Bengal Financial Rules is really a reprint of the Bengal Financial Rules published by the Government of prepartition Bengal, but unlike the other rules they are not promulgated under the authority of the Devolution Rules which ceased to exist with the constitutional changes introduced in 1935. They have been framed under the authority given to Finance Department under Rule 50 of the Rules of Business and have been made to conform to the further constitutional changes introduced in 1947. Since 1930 the Bengal Financial Rules could not be republished; and the changes in the procedure relating to accounts could not be introduced in the Bengal Financial Rules. Hence some of the rules in the Civil Account Code, etc., were being followed. These rules have been incorporated in the East Bengal Financial Rules which is now, as far as possible, a self-contained set of rules. They are of course supplementary to the Treasury Rules framed under section 151 of the Act and the Subsidiary Rules framed thereunder. When the Treasury Rules and Subsidiary Rules framed thereunder were compiled in 1944, it was contemplated that the revision of the Bengal Financial Rules would follow quickly. Hence some of the rules in the Bengal Financial Rules which deal with transactions in Treasury, while included in the other compilation, were not removed from the former. There was consequently duplication in this respect. In the compilation of the East Bengal Financial Rules this duplication has been removed. Where necessary, reference to the relevant rules in •the Treasury Rules and Subsidiary Rules has been included in the Financial Rules for convenience of working. In regard to maintenance of initial accounts, they are distinct from, but when necessary have to be applied in conjunction with, any direction issued by the Auditor- General under section 168 of the Act. In the compilation of the publication, the arrangement in the old book has been generally followed except that certain rules of general application have been collected in Chapter II to give them their due importance. This Chapter contains among others, the rules regarding financial propriety, and personal responsibility of individual Government servants in regard to wastage or irregular disposal of ptiblic money, stores or property. They were previously scattered over more than one publication, e.g., Audit Code, Civil Account Cede, etc.