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| Kher Committee | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kher Committee |
| Formed | 1947 |
| Dissolved | 1948 |
| Jurisdiction | Dominion of India |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Chief1 name | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Chief1 position | Chairman |
| Parent agency | Interim Government of India |
Kher Committee
The Kher Committee was a 1947 advisory body convened during the transition from the British Raj to the Dominion of India, tasked with addressing administrative, legal, and communal challenges arising from Partition and independence. It operated amid negotiations involving the Indian National Congress, the All-India Muslim League, the Cabinet Mission framework, and territorial realignments such as those affecting Punjab and Bengal. Its report intersected with contemporaneous developments including the Mountbatten Plan, the Indian Independence Act 1947, and debates in the Constituent Assembly of India.
The committee emerged in the aftermath of the Simla Conference and the final months of Lord Mountbatten of Burma's viceroyalty, when leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and C. Rajagopalachari sought mechanisms to manage communal violence and refugee flows. Influences included the earlier Cairns Mission proposals and the administrative precedents set by the Commonwealth and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. The committee was formed under the aegis of the Interim Government of India with tacit British approval and drew on expertise from figures associated with the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian Civil Service, and legal minds linked to the Privy Council and the Supreme Court of India.
The committee's chair was a noted statesman connected to the Constituent Assembly of India and former provincial ministries; other members represented a mix of politicians, jurists, and civil servants from centers such as Bombay, Calcutta, Lahore, and Delhi. Appointments included individuals with links to the Indian National Congress, the All-India Muslim League, the Punjab Unionist Party, and regional parties like the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and the All India Forward Bloc. Administrative officers on the panel had served under the Indian Civil Service, the Government of India Act 1935 framework, or in princely states such as Baroda and Travancore. Observers and advisors included delegates with ties to the United Kingdom, the United States Department of State, and the League of Nations successor institutions.
The committee was mandated to propose arrangements for refugee rehabilitation, policing, and interim administrative continuity in provinces affected by Partition, notably Punjab and Bengal, and princely states bordering Pakistan. It aimed to harmonize proposals with instruments like the Indian Independence Act 1947 and the Mountbatten Plan, while advising on legal continuity with precedents from the Government of India Act 1935 and the jurisprudence of the Privy Council. Objectives emphasized coordination with refugee agencies modeled on the International Refugee Organization, fiscal stabilization with reference to the Reserve Bank of India policies, and communal reconciliation drawing on examples from the League of Nations mandates and postwar European resettlement in Germany and Poland.
The committee held sessions in New Delhi, Simla, and Lahore and received testimony from officials of the Indian Civil Service, leaders from the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League, and representatives of princely states including Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. Its recommendations addressed policing arrangements referencing models from the Royal Ulster Constabulary and proposals for special tribunals akin to postwar tribunals in Nuremberg for communal crimes. It proposed refugee camps inspired by UNRRA practices, fiscal transfers guided by Reserve Bank of India precedent, and legal transitional measures drawing upon Commonwealth statutory continuity. The committee suggested a phased demobilization of paramilitary forces such as those with lineage to the Indian National Army and integration of personnel into provincial forces modeled on the British Indian Army structure. It proposed administrative accords for border districts, detailed record-keeping protocols similar to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, and suggested oversight mechanisms involving the Constituent Assembly of India.
Reactions varied across political actors: leaders in Calcutta and Lahore debated its proposals alongside positions by Sardar Patel and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, while provincial ministries in Bombay Presidency and Madras Presidency issued statements referencing the committee's work. The Press Trust of India and newspapers like The Times of India, The Hindu, Dawn, and The Statesman published critiques and endorsements, and trade union federations such as the All India Trade Union Congress commented on labor implications. British officials in Whitehall and colonial administrators in Hong Kong and Singapore monitored outcomes; international responses included commentary from diplomats associated with the United States and the Soviet Union.
Although short-lived, the committee influenced refugee policy, policing reforms, and interim administrative practices adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India and provincial legislatures in Punjab and Bengal. Its recommendations informed later statutes and institutions including aspects of the Indian Penal Code application, administrative practices of the Reserve Bank of India, and refugee rehabilitation programs that paralleled efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNHCR. Scholars at institutions such as Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Jadavpur University have examined its archives alongside works on Partition by historians referencing archives from National Archives of India and private papers of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The committee's legacy persists in debates over federal-provincial relations, communal reconciliation, and administrative continuity in South Asia, influencing later commissions and inquiries in India and neighboring Pakistan.