(1) Save as otherwise provided in section 19, where the audit of the accounts of any body or authority has not been entrusted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General by or under any law made by Parliament, he shall, if requested so to do by the President or the Governor of a State or the Administrator of a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, as the case may be, undertake the audit of the accounts of such body or authority on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between him and the concerned Government and shall have, for the purposes of such audit, right of access to the books and accounts of that body or authority:
Provided that no such request shall be made except after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(2) The Comptroller and Auditor-General may propose to the President or the Governor of a State or the Administrator of a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, as the case may be, that he may be authorised to undertake the audit of the accounts of any body or authority, the audit of the accounts of which has not been entrusted to him by law, if he is of opinion that such audit is necessary because a substantial amount has been invested in, or advanced to, such body or authority by the Central or State Government or by the Government of a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, and on such request being made, the President or the Governor or the Administrator, as the case may be, may empower the Comptroller and Auditor-General to undertake the audit of the accounts of such body or authority.
(3) The audit referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall not be entrusted to the Comptroller and Auditor-General except where the President or the Governor of a State or the Administrator of a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, as the case may be, is satisfied that it is expedient so to do in the public interest and except after giving a reasonable opportunity to the concerned body or authority to make representations with regard to the proposal for such audit.