Chief Commissioner

For the police rank, see Police commissioner.

A Chief Commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several Commissioners or similarly styled officers.

Colonial

In British India the gubernatorial style was Chief Commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after being an entity under a lower ranking official), the style being applied especially where an elected assembly did not exist, notably:

• Ajmer-Merwara 1 April 1871 - 15 August 1947 (the last date being the independence of India as a dominion, ending the colonial British raj)
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands 1872 - August 1945
• Assam 1912 - 3 January 1921
• Baluchistan 19 June 1877 - 3 October 1947
• Central Provinces and Berar 13 March 1854 - 17 December 1920
• Coorg 10 April 1834 - 15 August 1947
• Delhi 1912 - 15 August 1947
• North-West Frontier Province 9 November 1901 - 18 April 1932
• Panth-Piploda May 1942 - 15 August 1947 sole incumbent Sir Walter Fendall Campbell, Lt. Col. (1894-1973).
• Punjab (first 1 April 1849 - 1853 under a board of administration) till 1 January 1858 (only sole incumbent John Laird Mair Lawrence)

Independent Commonwealth nations

Australia

On two occasions in the late 20th century, local elected government in the City of Melbourne was temporarily replaced by panels of commissioners headed by a Chief Commissioner. [1]

Chief Commissioner is also a rank used by Scouts Australia for the Adult Leader with operational control of Scouting in each State and Territory Branch. There is also a Chief Commissioner of Australia, a position which is more prestigious, although it carries less power.

Also in the state of Victoria, the head of police force is, unlike all the other states and territories, a 'Chief Commissioner'- as opposed to a 'Commissioner'. The reason for this is, during Victoria's pre-federation history, there was more than one commissioner in the colony, one metropolitan and one for the goldfields, hence an additional degree of seniority was introduced. The office of Chief Commissioner has remained since.

Mauritius - Rodrigues

The Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues is the gubernatorial head of the Rodrigues island regional government since it was granted autonomy within the independent republic of Mauritius. The Commissioner comes from the party holding the most seats in the regional assembly.

The incumbents were:

• Jean Daniel Spéville (12 October 2002 - 4 February 2003)
• Louis Serge Clair (4 February 2003 - 4 August 2006)
• Johnson Roussety (4 August 2006 - 12 January 2011)
• Gaetan Jabeemisar (12 January 2011 -)

However the Chief Executive of Rodrigues is in daily charge of the island administration.

India

In India the post of Chief Commissioner is in Indian Revenue Service (IRS) i.e. Central Excise & Customs Department & Income Tax Department. Usually the Chief Commissioner is above 3 or 4 Commissioners of C&CE or IT

Sources and references

• WorldStatesmen notably British India