Cyril Radcliffe has since the bloody partition been popularly characterised as being well meaning but ultimately out of his depth. Determining the line of partition was centred on the activities of the Boundary Commission with Radcliffe as chairperson. The activities of the Commission were divided between the Punjab and Bengal boundary commissions. It deliberated with concerned parties in Delhi, Calcutta, and Lahore.

Cyril Radcliffe

Source: Elliott & Fry, National Portrait Gallery, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Radcliffe had not previously visited India and as part of his work in drawing the new border had not visited the areas where the borders would be placed. He was effectively given the power to decide the fate of 10s of millions of people in 6 weeks with out-of-date maps and inaccurate census data to inform his decision. Such a set of circumstances predictably led to chaos and bloody violence.