Consider the following statements: The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts 1. Consists of not more than 25 Members of the Lok Sabha 2. Scrutinizes appropriation and finance accounts of the Government 3. Examines the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Which of the statements given above is / are correct?

The correct answer is B. Statements 2 and 3 are right, and statement 1 is wrong.

• Statement 1 is wrong. The PAC has 22 members: 15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha. It is not a Lok Sabha-only body with a cap of 25. Members are elected by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha through proportional representation by single transferable vote, and the Chairman is, by convention, a member of the Opposition.
• Statement 2 is correct. The PAC scrutinises the appropriation accounts and finance accounts of the Government, checking whether money voted by Parliament was spent within the authorised limits.
• Statement 3 is correct. The PAC examines the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) laid before Parliament, and questions the executive on irregularities found.

The core concept is post-audit financial accountability of the executive to Parliament, which is central to GS-III (economy) and GS-II (governance, accountability). In Mains, it links to the CAG's role and the effectiveness of parliamentary financial committees.

Trap: Candidates often confuse the PAC with the Estimates Committee (30 Lok Sabha members) or assume all financial committees are Lok Sabha-only. The PAC's 22-member, two-House composition is the detail that decides statement 1.