New Delhi, March 27: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has criticised the external affairs ministry and foreign missions for wasting crores of rupees on expensive cars and artefacts.

The latest CAG report, presented in Parliament last week, observed that officials disregarded instructions and procedures, resulting in irregular and unauthorised expenditure worth Rs 4.92 crore.

The report specifies cases where financial rules were violated. Objets d’art, which include paintings, sculptures and silver pieces, worth Rs 1.27 crore were bought between 2002 and 2004.

The ceiling for such purchases ? the art objects are used to decorate missions or for giving away as gifts ? was Rs 71.8 lakh for the period.

A scrutiny of the purchases revealed that many expensive works of art with price tags between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were bought.

These were sent to missions in Washington, London, Riyadh, Moscow, New York, Colombo and Muscat.

The report also mentioned three missions ? at Riyadh, Mahe in Seychelles, and Johannesburg ? where cars were bought between June 2002 and January 2005 to replace old ones without the ministry’s approval. The Riyadh embassy bought a car for Rs 16 lakh and the Johannesburg mission got one for Rs 18.83 lakh.

Regulations on cellphone use were also flouted, the report said. The government allows cellphones to secretaries and joint secretaries with a monthly ceiling of Rs 1,500. It was, however, found that the spouse of the Indian high commissioner in Pretoria between 2000 and 2003 used one of the phones.

The combined cellphone bill of six missions has come to Rs 13.49 lakh.