- Officially known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919, Rowlatt Act was Passed on 18th March 1919 by the Imperial Legislative Council.
- The acts allowed certain political cases to be tried without juries and permitted the internment of suspects without trial. Their object was to replace the repressive provisions of the wartime Defence of India Act (1915) with a permanent law.
- This act authorised the British government to arrest anybody suspected of terrorist activities. It also authorised the government to detain such people arrested for up to 2 years without trial. It empowered the police to search for a place without a warrant. It also placed severe restrictions on the freedom of the press.
- The act was passed as per recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee chaired by a judge, Sir Sidney Rowlatt, after whom the act is named.
- This act had been hurriedly passed in the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members.
- It was enacted in light of a perceived threat from revolutionary nationalists to organisations of re-engaging in similar conspiracies as during the war which the Government felt the lapse of the Defence of India Act would enable.
- The Rowlatt Acts were much resented by an aroused Indian public. All nonofficial Indian members of the council (i.e., those who were not officials in the colonial government) voted against the acts.
- Mahatma Gandhi organized a protest movement that led directly to the Massacre of Amritsar (April 1919) and subsequently to his noncooperation movement (1920–22). In response to this act, a nationwide hartal was called by Gandhiji on 6th This was called the Rowlatt Satyagraha. The movement was cancelled by Gandhiji when it was marred by rioting in some provinces, particularly in Punjab where the situation was grim.
- During the intense anti-British demonstrations, Punjab also witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
- The acts were never actually implemented.
