Page:Report of the Bengal Boundary Commission (Radcliffe Award).pdf/1

 REGISTERED No. L. 3131

No. F. 68/47-R. The Reports of the Bengal Boundary Commission and of the Punjab Boundary Commission are published for general information.  

To

1. I have the honour in present the decision and award of the Bengal Boundary Commission, which, by virtue of section 3 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, is represented by my decision as Chairman of that Commission. This award relates to the division of the Province of Bengal, and the Commission's award in respect of the District of Sylhet and areas adjoining thereto will be recorded in a separate report.

2. The Bengal Boundary Commission was constituted by the announcement of the Governor-General, dated the 30th of June, 1947, Reference No. D50/7/47R. The members of the Commission thereby appointed were

1. Mr. Justice Bijan Kumar Mukherjee,

2. Mr. Justice C. C. Biswas,

3. Mr. Justice Abu Saleh Mohamed Akram, and

4. Mr. Justice S. A. Rahman.

I was subsequently appointed Chairman of this Commission.

3. The terms of reference of the Commission, as set out in the announcement, were as follows:— "The Boundary Commission is instructed to demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of Bengal on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will also take into account other factors."

We were desired to arrive at a decision as soon as possible before the 15th of August.

