The Rowlatt Act was a law passed by the British government in March 1919 to increase their grip on power over the common people. The act was officially called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act and gave enormous power to the British government and police to arrest anyone suspected of seditious activities. The key features of the Rowlatt Act are:

• The act allowed the police to arrest political activists for two years without trials.
• The act gave the government authority to arrest any suspected person without a warrant and detain him/her for up to 2 years without a trial.
• The act took away people’s right to legal discourse and suspended the constitutional right to habeas corpus.

The Rowlatt Act was much resented by the Indian public and led to the Rowlatt Satyagraha, a protest movement organized by Mahatma Gandhi. The act also led directly to the Massacre of Amritsar in April 1919 and subsequently to Gandhis noncooperation movement.