Rule of Law Undermined: Habeas Corpus, Preventive Detention, and the Indian Response to Rowlatt
Aqib Yousuf Rather
Lecturer, Govt. Degree College (Boys), Udhampur, J&K
Peer Amir Ahmad
Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Govt. Degree College Majalta, J&K
The Act extended emergency wartime powers into peacetime, authorizing preventive detention, suspension of habeas corpus, and trials without jury or appeal, thereby undermining foundational civil liberties and the rule of law. Rooted in imperial paranoia over revolutionary activities and nationalist aspirations, the Act epitomized colonial authoritarianism cloaked in legal formality. The study explores the origins of the Act through the Rowlatt Committee’s findings, the rationale for its enactment, and its sweeping legal implications. It also evaluates the massive public outcry it provoked, culminating in Mahatma Gandhi’s first national Satyagraha and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre—an event that galvanized Indian nationalist sentiment and delegitimized British rule. The article argues that the Rowlatt Act marked a pivotal turning point, transforming India's freedom struggle from elite constitutionalism to mass civil disobedience. It further contends that the Act's legacy continues to inform India’s constitutional emphasis on civil rights and legal accountability. Through historical analysis and legal critique, this study underscores the ways in which law can become a tool of repression and resistance in colonial contexts, shaping the trajectory of national liberation.
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