Hunter Committee Report,1919-1920

On the 29 Oct 1919, the legislative Council of the Govt. of India named an investigatory Committee to be led by Lord William Hunter(1865-1957)and assisted by 5 Englishmen and four Indians.This was named as the Hunter Committee.The Hunter Committee was charged with the examination of the violence which had occurred in Amritsar and elsewhere in Punjab, in consequence of the catastrophic Jallianwalabagh Amritsar massacre,. In Nov. the Hunter Committee convened in Delhi and then took further testimony in Ahmedabad, Bombay and Lahore over a period of 46 days.On 14th Nov, the Indian National Congress appointed a Punjab sub-committee with Mahatma Gandhi at its head. He was to conduct his own investigation of events in Punjab and at Amritsar 1919. As a counter measure to the Hunter Committee , its work also possessed some shortcomings..
On 19th Nov, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer appeared before the Hunter Committee to produce evidence. He testified that he had planned to fire in advance of arrival at the gardens and not only for the purpose of of dispersing the crowd, but to produce a moral impact in order to prevent the spread of mutiny. He indicated that if possible he would have used machine guns and armoured cars Finally, he acknowledged that he had left the wounded unattended . On 8th March 1920, the Hunter Committee's majority reprimanded Brigadier general Dyer in its final report for hi mistaken concept of duty. Likewise , several other civil and military officials of Punjab received censor of early retirement..
On 26th May, the Hunter Report was published. It concluded that the Indian gathering was not the result of a pre-arranged conspiracy. It asserted that the rioting in Amritsar had turned into rebellion. The declaration of martial law was viewed as justifiable in firing  and that its application was ,in the main ,  not oppressive. The report concluded that Brigadier General Dyer was justified in firing on the mob, though notice should have been given and its duration shortened . The Indian members of the Hunter Committee issued a minority report. It questioned the need for martial law to have been used and disputed the level of severity of the Indian disturbances.
After the Hunter Committee completed its work, the Govt, of India provide 15,000 rupees for dependents of those killed at Jallianwalabagh living in Amritsar and with 12,000 rupee for those living outlying villages.
On 8th July, the House of Commons debated the Dyer issue. It supported the decision of the Army Council  that no further employent should be offered to Brigadier-General Dyer. The house of Lords concorded to this decision in the course of debates on July 19 and 20, 1920.  .