The Simon Commission or the Indian Statutory Commission was a seven-member commission sent to India to review the constitutional reforms of the country as arranged in the 1919 Government of India Act. The Simon Commission was completely boycotted by Congress and the Indian masses. The members of the Simon Commission faced black flag demonstrations throughout their time in India as the entire country chanted the slogan “Simon Go Back”.

In Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai led demonstrations but suffered massive police atrocities during the protest. On 17th November 1928, he succumbed to his injuries inflicted during the lathi charge. On 30th November 1928, Jawaharlal Nehru and Gobind Pant were beaten up in Lucknow. Pant became physically disabled for life.

Background

Lord Birkenhead, the then Secretary of State for India, in a letter to the Lord Marquess of Reading, addressed a Labour Party victory in the upcoming general elections. The Conservatives, including Birkenhead, did not like the idea of leaving the announcement of the Commission to the Labourites who, relatively, were more sympathetic to the Indian cause. The Simon Commission was thus appointed two years ahead of its time.

Objective 

The 1919 Government of India Act had introduced a system of diarchy to administrate the provinces of British India. There was a provision in this act that allowed for a commission to be set up after ten years to check the progress of this act and to suggest new constitutional reforms for the future governance of British India.

The Simon Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon, had the objective to check the working of the system of government, educational growth, and to look for possibilities to develop British representative institutions in India. 

The Commission was also to check the possibility of establishing a responsible government or restricting the existing system.

Native Response

Indian masses, along with most of the political parties, rejected the Simon Commission. It did not have any Indian representation, and most of the Indian leaders were not in favour of the idea of federalism that the Simon Commission had proposed.

At the Madras Congress session in 1927, a resolution was passed to boycott the Simon Commission. Under Jinnah’s leadership, a part of the Muslim League opposed the Simon Commission, but another group under Shafi supported the Simon Commission’s appointment.

Apart from the Shafi group, the Justice Party of Madras and Unionists of Punjab also supported the Commission.

In May 1928, a committee came into existence under the leadership of Motilal Nehru to work on a constitution that united diverse Indian opinions. Some recommendations of the Nehru Report are as follows:

• India ascends to Dominion status. The government would be of a parliamentary nature, with a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives.
• The Senate will be elected for seven years and will consist of two hundred members. The House of Representatives will be elected for five years with five hundred members.
• The Executive branch and the Judiciary would be independent of each other.
• Muslims would have one-fourth reservation at the centre.

But the report faced criticism internally from younger factions of the Congress headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Bose, because the report accepted the dominion status, as compared to purna swaraj.

Jinnah, in March 1929, put forth ‘Fourteen Points’ that demanded a total rejection of the Nehru Report. There were two main reasons. The first one is opposition to a unitary constitution. It was believed that a unitary system would not ensure Muslim authority anywhere in India. The second reason was Jinnah wanted separate electorates to ensure Muslim rights were not being trampled upon.

Recommendations of the Simon Commission

In its two-volume report, published in the month of May in 1930, the Simon Commission had proposed certain recommendations which became the basis of the Government of India Act of 1935. Some important ones are as follows:

• To abolish the diarchy system.
• To give more autonomy and power to the provinces by establishing provincial governments. Thus introducing a federal system of governance.
• The Governor would have special emergency powers to provide for the safety of the provinces and to protect the minorities. Also includes full powers to intervene in case of a constitutional collapse.
• The number of members of the Provincial Legislative Council should be increased.
• The High Courts would function under the Government of India.
• Until the communal tensions were in control, separate electorates should be maintained.
• The representation in the upper house of the legislature for British India, the Council of State, would be on the basis of an indirect election through the provincial council.

Conclusion

Many consider the Simon Commission as a blessing in disguise. This is because before the Simon Commission matter came to light, Congress was agenda-less. India’s opposition to the Simon Commission led Lord Birkenhead to throw an open challenge to the Indian leaders to frame a constitution that would unify the Indian opinion. 

This challenge was accepted and came out in the form of the Nehru Report, and even though it was not accepted by the younger faction, it was India’s first attempt to frame a constitution for its people by its people. The Simon Commission also became the basis of the Government of India Act of 1935.