A statutory commission appointed by the British in 1927 to review the working of the Government of India Act, 1919, and recommend further constitutional reforms; boycotted across India because it had no Indian member.
- Headed by Sir John Simon, with seven members, all British; the absence of any Indian member provoked a nationwide boycott.
- Appointed in 1927 (two years ahead of schedule) and arrived in India in 1928; greeted with black flags and the slogan "Simon Go Back".
- During a protest at Lahore in 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai was injured in a police lathi-charge and died soon after; his death was avenged by revolutionaries (the killing of police officer J.P. Saunders).
- The Commission's report (1930) recommended the abolition of dyarchy, provincial autonomy, and a federal structure, ideas later reflected in the Government of India Act, 1935.
- The Indian response was the Nehru Report (1928), drafted by a committee under Motilal Nehru, as an Indian alternative constitutional scheme.
The "all-white" composition, the "Simon Go Back" protests, and the death of Lala Lajpat Rai are very high-frequency facts, and the Commission links the 1919 and 1935 Acts.
The Simon Commission was boycotted because it had no Indian member, not because of its recommendations; its later report did shape the 1935 Act.
1927 to 1928 all-British commission to review the 1919 Act; boycotted ("Simon Go Back"); Lala Lajpat Rai injured fatally in protest; report shaped the 1935 Act.