99/14- Jallianwala Bagh 

एक दुखी परिवार 99/14

The Hunter Commission

On 14 October 1919, after orders issued by the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, the Government of India announced the formation of a committee of inquiry into the events in Punjab. Referred to as the Disorders Inquiry Committee, it was later more widely known as the Hunter Commission. It was named after the name of chairman, Lord William Hunter, former Solicitor-General for Scotland and Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland. The stated purpose of the commission was to "investigate the recent disturbances in Bombay, Delhi and Punjab, about their causes, and the measures taken to cope with them". The members of the commission were:

§  Lord Hunter, Chairman of the Commission

§  Mr. Justice George C. Rankin of Calcutta

§  Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University and advocate of the Bombay High Court

§  Mr W.F. Rice, member of the Home Department

§  Major-General Sir George Barrow, KCB, KCMG, GOC Peshawar Division

§  Pandit Jagat Narayan, lawyer and Member of the Legislative Council of the United Provinces

§  Mr. Thomas Smith, Member of the Legislative Council of the United Provinces

§  Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Khan, lawyer from Gwalior State

§  Mr H.C. Stokes, Secretary of the Commission and member of the Home Department[51]

After meeting in New Delhi on 29 October, the Commission took statements from witnesses over the following weeks. Witnesses were called in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bombay and Lahore. Although the Commission as such was not a formally constituted court of law, meaning witnesses were not subject to questioning under oath, its members managed to elicit detailed accounts and statements from witnesses by rigorous cross-questioning. In general, it was felt the Commission had been very thorough in its enquiries.After reaching Lahore in November, the Commission wound up its initial inquiries by examining the principal witnesses to the events in Amritsar.

(Cont.    .)