Cyril Radcliffe was tasked to make a decision on a new boundary in a matter of weeks and therefore spent very little time in areas that would be subject to the new borders. Aside from Delhi and Simla, Radcliffe spent time in Calcutta and Lahore where the boundary commission had organised public hearings on the matter of partition.

The decision making process of the boundary commission was not clearly set out. As late as 10th July, Radcliffe had enquired, “whether in the decisions of the Boundary Commissions [sic] account should be taken of natural features, providing defensible boundaries and markings for general administrative convenience. The Commander-in-Chief said that considerations of defence could be ignored but pointed out that rivers, which might appear to form suitable natural boundaries, in India frequently changed their courses and would not therefore provide a fixed boundary.”

Source: ‘Case No. P.C.30/4/47’, cited in Nicholas Mansergh & Penderel Moon (eds.), Transfer of Power, vol. XII, p. 64