TL;DR — what you need to know in 30 seconds
Official name: Anarchical & Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919. Passed: March 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council. Named after: Sir Sidney Rowlatt who chaired the Sedition Committee 1917-18. Key powers: detention without trial up to 2 years; trials without juries; no appeal. Gandhi's response: first all-India satyagraha, started 6 April 1919. Consequence: Jallianwala Bagh massacre 13 April 1919. Repealed: 1922.
Background — why the Rowlatt Act was passed
During World War I (1914-18), the British colonial government in India had governed through the Defence of India Act 1915, which gave it sweeping emergency powers to suppress revolutionary activity. As the war ended, the British feared a resurgence of revolutionary movements (Ghadar Movement, Anushilan Samiti, Hindustan Republican Association etc.) and Hindu-Muslim solidarity post the Lucknow Pact 1916.
In December 1917, the government appointed the Sedition Committee headed by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, a British judge of the Court of Appeal in England. The Committee submitted its report in April 1918, recommending permanent peacetime extension of the Defence of India Act's emergency provisions.
Provisions of the Rowlatt Act
Based on the Rowlatt Committee's recommendations, two bills were introduced in the Imperial Legislative Council in February 1919:
- Bill No. 1 (Indian Criminal Law Amendment Bill) — passed as Act XI of 1919.
- Bill No. 2 (Criminal Law Emergency Powers Bill) — passed despite opposition from all 22 Indian members of the Council; became the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919.
Key provisions:
- Detention without trial — suspects could be jailed for up to 2 years without trial or formal charge.
- Trials by special tribunals — three judges (no jury), no right of appeal to any higher court.
- Search and arrest without warrant — police given expanded powers.
- Restrictions on residence and movement — suspects could be confined to specific areas.
- Press censorship — restrictions on publication of "objectionable" material.
- Bail denied — accused could not access bail.
"No dalil, no vakil, no appeal" (no argument, no lawyer, no appeal)
— popular slogan summarising the Act's harshness
Indian opposition — every elected member voted against
All 22 Indian elected members of the Imperial Legislative Council voted against the Bill. Notable opponents included:
- Madan Mohan Malaviya — resigned in protest.
- M.A. Jinnah — resigned from the Imperial Legislative Council.
- Mazhar-ul-Haq — resigned.
- Mahatma Gandhi — proposed nationwide satyagraha (he was still recovering from a serious illness when this happened).
Gandhi's Rowlatt Satyagraha — first all-India movement
On 24 February 1919, Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay. Members pledged to disobey the Rowlatt Act and any other "such other laws as a committee of the Satyagraha Sabha may consider unjust".
The Rowlatt Satyagraha was launched on 6 April 1919 with a nationwide hartal. Key features:
- Nationwide hartal (strike) — shops closed, services suspended.
- Prayer meetings, fasts — Gandhi's distinctive non-violent technique.
- Public meetings across cities — Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Lahore, Amritsar.
- Civil disobedience of unjust laws, including the salt laws and prohibition on certain publications.
This was Gandhi's first all-India political movement — he transformed from a leader of regional satyagrahas (Champaran 1917, Kheda 1918, Ahmedabad mill strike 1918) into an all-India leader of the freedom movement.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre — 13 April 1919
On 9 April 1919, prominent Punjab leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal were arrested in Amritsar under the Rowlatt Act and deported to Dharamshala. Protests erupted across Punjab. On 11 April, all British troops were placed under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, who imposed martial law.
On 13 April 1919 — Baisakhi day — a peaceful crowd of 15,000-20,000 people (men, women, children) gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, an enclosed garden in Amritsar, for a public meeting against the Rowlatt Act and the arrests. The Bagh had only one narrow entrance and high walls on all sides.
General Dyer arrived with 90 soldiers (50 with rifles, mostly Gurkhas and Baluchis) and, without warning, ordered them to open fire on the crowd for 10 minutes — 1,650 rounds fired. Casualties:
- British official figure: 379 dead, 1,200 wounded.
- Indian estimates: ~1,000 dead, 1,500+ wounded.
- People jumped into a well to escape — bodies pulled out of the well: 120+.
The aftermath:
- Hunter Commission (1919-20) — censured Dyer; he was forced to resign but received a hero's welcome in England, with The Morning Post raising £26,000 for his pension.
- Rabindranath Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest (31 May 1919).
- Mahatma Gandhi returned his Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal.
- Udham Singh assassinated Sir Michael O'Dwyer (Lt. Governor of Punjab at the time of the massacre) in London on 13 March 1940 — 21 years later.
- The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) followed directly from the Jallianwala Bagh shock.
Repeal of the Rowlatt Act
The Rowlatt Act was never actually used to convict anyone, in part because of the intense political controversy it generated. It was formally repealed in 1922 by the new Indian Legislative Assembly under the Government of India Act 1919.
Why the Rowlatt Act matters for UPSC
- First Gandhi all-India movement — launches his pan-Indian leadership.
- Direct trigger for Jallianwala Bagh — a turning point in nationalist consciousness.
- Marks the failure of constitutional reform — coming just before the Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms).
- Connects to Khilafat Movement (1919-22) and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22).
- Modern parallels — preventive detention laws, AFSPA, UAPA debates trace back to Rowlatt's legacy.