Important Ad Hoc Commissions You Must Know
Introduction Here’s a list of Ad Hoc Commissions you must know before appearing for any competitive examination. These commissions are formed for a very specific purpose and for a shorter period of time for fulfilling any objective. In this article we will try to list out such 20 must know Ad Hoc Commissions for you. List of Commission… Read More »
Introduction Here’s a list of Ad Hoc Commissions you must know before appearing for any competitive examination. These commissions are formed for a very specific purpose and for a shorter period of time for fulfilling any objective. In this article we will try to list out such 20 must know Ad Hoc Commissions for you. List of Commission Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities Kalekar Commission Kapur Commission Khosla Commission Kothari Commission Liberhan...
Introduction
Here’s a list of Ad Hoc Commissions you must know before appearing for any competitive examination. These commissions are formed for a very specific purpose and for a shorter period of time for fulfilling any objective. In this article we will try to list out such 20 must know Ad Hoc Commissions for you.
List of Commission
- Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities
- Kalekar Commission
- Kapur Commission
- Khosla Commission
- Kothari Commission
- Liberhan Commission
- Mandal Commission
- Mukherjee Commission
- Nanavati Commission
- Nanavati-Shah Commission
- Narendran Commission
- National Commission to the review the working of the Constitution
- Phukan Commission
- Sarkaria Commission
- Shah Commission
- Srikrishna Commission
- States Reorganisation Commission
- Thakkar Commission
- C. Banerjee Commission
- Upendra Commission
Commissions
1. States Reorganisation Commission[1]
State Reorganization was constituted by the Government of India on 29 December 1953 to look into the matter of redrawing the boundaries of States. One of the most popular demands was to reorganize the states based on languages, this was done to make administration easier and to replace controversial caste and religion-based identities with less controversial linguistic identities. The State reorganization commission consisted of H N Kunzru, Fazal Ali and K M Panikkar.
2. Kothari Commission[2]
Kothari Commission was an ad-hoc commission formed by the government of India. It was formed on 14th July 1964 under the chairmanship of Daulat Singh Kothari. It was formed to provide policies and guidelines for the development of education in India. To examine every aspect of the Indian education sector.
3. Kapur Commission[3]
This Kapur Commission Report deals with the Conspiracy to Murder of Mahatma Gandhi who was shot dead point-blank range by Nathuram Vinayak Godse in Birla House Prayer Gardens on 30th January 1948. Three among the eight accused i.e. Madanlal, Karkare, and Gopal Godse were released on12th October 1964 after completion of their life-sentence and honoured on November 12, 1964 in Pune at a private function presided by Dr. G.V. Ketkar. In that function, Delhi and Bombay Civil and Police administration were strongly condemned for their laxity and dereliction of duty which ultimately resulted in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Indian Express dated November 14, 1964 commented adversely about this function. There was a furore in Bombay Legislative Assembly and Indian Parliament which led the institution of Kapur Inquiry Commission. The Commission’s report was made public in 1970s.
This digitised Report in two parts is an indispensable one for Judicial Officers & Police Officials, Lawyers & Students of Legal Studies, Historians & Human Right Activists, and above all for Indian Politicians & Bureaucrats in discharging their official duties without any commission or omission and comprehending the social responsibility that is to be shouldered as and when required in times of crisis.
4. Khosla Commission[4]
The Khosla Commission, named after G. D. Khosla, was one of many commissions set up by the Indian government to investigate the death of Subash Chandra Bose. Although the official narrative was that he died in a plane crash on the way to Japan, many of his supporters still believed that he did not perish. Conspiracy theories appeared within hours of his death and have persisted since then. As such many commissions were set up by the government to investigate the validity of these theories.
5. Mandal Commission[5]
Mandal Commission was set up in 1979 January by Morarji Desai government to identify the socially or educationally backward classes to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. It was chaired by B.P. Mandal. The commission submitted the report to the president on December 30, 1980. It recommended 27% reservation quota for OBC resulting in a total of 49.5% quota in government jobs and public universities.
6. Sarkaria Commission[6]
Sarkaria Commission on inter-state relations in its report dealt with the role of Governors. It suggested that in choosing a Chief Minister the Governor should be guided by the following principles:
(1) The party or combination of parties which command the widest support in the legislative assembly should be called upon to form the Government.
(2) The Governor’s task is to see that a government is formed and not to try to form a government which will pursue policies which he approves.
(3) If there is a single party having absolute majority the leader of that party should automatically be invited to become the Chief Minister. If there is no such party the Governor has to invite:
- An alliance of parties formed before the elections.
- The largest single party which is able to gain the support of other members to command majority.
- A post-electoral coalition which has the required members.
- A post-electoral coalition in which partners will not join the government but are willing to support the government from outside. The Commission further suggested that where the Chief Minister heads a coalition Government he must seek the vote of confidence in the assembly within 30 days of taking over. Sarkaria Commission cautioned the Governor and said that the Governor should not risk determining the issue of majority support outside the assembly. The prudent course for him would be to cause the rival claims to be tested on the floor of the House.
7. Mukherjee Commission[7]
It was one-man board appointed by the Government of India in 1999 to inquire and investigate into the death of Subhas Chandra Bose. Justice Manoj Mukherjee, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, was appointed to lead the inquiry.
8. Nanavati Commission[8]
The Nanavati Commission was appointed by the government of Gujarat to probe the Godhra train burning incident of 27 February 2002 and the subsequent communal riots in Gujarat. It was appointed on 6 March 2002. The Commission submitted in September 2008 the part of the report covering the Godhra train burning incident (Part I). The Commission, term ended on 31st October 2014 and it will submit its second, final report.
9. Narendran Commission[9]
Narendran Commission was an inquiry commission appointed by The Government of Kerala, India, in February 2000 to study and report on the adequacy or otherwise of representation for Backward Classes in the State public services. The report is available on the government web site. It submitted the report in November 2001 with statistical data on the representation of the various communities in the four categories of public services – State government departments, the judiciary, public sector enterprises, and universities and other autonomous institutions under the government.
10. National Commission to the review the working of the Constitution[10]
The NCRWC is established to review the working of the Constitution also known as Justice Manepalli Narayan Rao Venkatachaliah Commission was set up by a resolution of the NDA government of India led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 22nd February 2000 for suggesting possible amendments to the Constitution of India.
11. Nanavati-Shah Commission[11]
The Nanavati-Shah Commission is a commission of enquiry appointed by the government of Gujarat to probe the Godhra train burning incident of 27 February 2002. Its mandate was later enlarged to include the investigation of the 2002 Gujarat riots. It was appointed on 6 March 2002, with K. G. Shah, a retired Gujarat High Court judge, as its only member.
It was later re-constituted to include G. T. Nanavati, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, after protests from human rights organizations over Shah’s closeness to then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Akshay H. Mehta, retired judge of the Gujarat High Court, replaced Shah when the latter died before the submission of the commission’s interim report.
12. Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities[12]
National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, also called as Ranganath Misra Commission was constituted by Government of India on 29 October 2004 to look into various issues related to Linguistic and Religious minorities in India. It was chaired by former Chief Justice of India Justice Ranganath Misra. The commission submitted the report to the Government on 21 May 2007.
13. Liberhan Commission[13]
The Liberhan Commission (Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry) was a long-running inquiry commissioned by the Government of India to investigate the destruction of the disputed structure Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. Led by retired High Court Judge M. S. Liberhan, it was formed on 16 December 1992 by an order of the Indian Home Union Ministry after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6th December and the subsequent riots there.
The commission was originally mandated to submit its report within three months. Extensions were given 48 times, and after a delay of 17 years, the one-man commission submitted the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 June 2009.
14. Shah Commission[14]
Shah Commission was a commission of inquiry appointed by Government of India in 1977 to inquire into all the excesses committed in the Indian Emergency (1975 – 77). It was headed by Justice J.C. Shah, a former chief Justice of India.
15. U.C. Banerjee Commission[15]
On 17 May 2004, with the victory of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the Indian general election, Lalu Prasad Yadav was appointed railway minister. In September 2004, two and half years after the train burning, Yadav appointed former Supreme Court Justice Umesh Chandra Banerjee to investigate the incident. In January 2005 Banerjee presented his interim report, which tentatively ascribed the fire as an “accidental fire,” after ruling out other theories. He cited a forensic report stating that the injuries on the victims were only compatible with an “internal fire.” The report was also critical of the railways’ handling of the evidence relevant to the case
16. Srikrishna Commission[16]
Srikrishna Commission or Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry was constituted by the Government of Maharashtra under Justice Srikrishna for investigating the causes of the Bombay riots. For five years until 1998, he examined victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators. The Commission was disbanded by the Shiv Sena led government in January 1996 and on public opposition was later reconstituted on 28 May 1996; though when it was reconstituted its terms of reference were extended to include the Mumbai bomb blasts that followed in March 1993.
17. Thakkar Commission[17]
The Justice Thakkar Commission of Inquiry (headed by Justice Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar), set up to probe Indira Gandhi’s assassination, recommended a separate probe for the conspiracy angle behind the assassination. The Thakkar Report stated that the “needle of suspicion” pointed at R. K. Dhawan for complicity in the conspiracy.
18. Phukan Commission[18]
This was formed in 2003 to inquire into corruption allegations in the wake of Tehelka tapes controversy. It was headed by Justice P.C. Phukan. The expose led to the resignation of the then Defence Minister Mr. George Fernandes.
19. Upendra Commission[19]
The Upendra Commission was formed in 2004 for inquiring into the death of Manorama Devi, examined the officer-in-charge of Irilbung police station in Manipur.
20. Kalelkar Commission[20]
A Backward Classes Commission was appointed by the President of India on 29 January 1953 with Kaka Kaielkar as its chairman. The Commission was directed to determine the criteria to be adopted in considering whether any section of people should be treated as socially and educationally backwards. It was also to prepare a list of such classes. The Commission was also directed to investigate the conditions of all such socially and educationally backward classes and the difficulties which they encountered in carrying out their work.
[1] State Reorganisation Commission Report, available here
[2] Report of the Kothari Commission, available here
[3] Kapur Commission Report, available here
[4] Khosla Commission Report, available here
[5] Mandal Commission Report, available here
[6] Sarkaria Commission Report, available here
[7] Mukherjee Commission Report, available here
[8] Nanavati Commission Report, available here
[9] Narendran Commission Report, available here
[10] National Commission to the review the working of the Constitution Report, available here
[11] Nanavati-Shah Commission Report, available here
[12] Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, available here
[13] Liberhan Commission Report, available here
[14] Catalogue of Paper on Shah Commission Report, available here
[15] U.C. Banerjee Commission Report, available here
[16] Srikrishna Commission Report, available here
[17] Thakkar Commission Report, available here
[18] Ministry of Law & Justice Press Release, available here
[19] Upendra Commission Report, available here
[20] Kalelkar Commission Report, available here
