The Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance of 1924, enacted into law as Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1925, was a criminal law ordinance enacted in October 1924 in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The law was implemented to stem the rise in revolutionary nationalism by the ''

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...

'' group against

The Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

in Bengal after 1922. Following the collapse of the Nonviolent movement, the remnants of the

Anushilan Samiti Anushilan Samiti ( bn, অনুশীলন সমিতি, , bodybuilding society) was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it su ...

reformed under the leadership of

Surya Sen Surya Sen, also called Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary who was influential in the Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury ...

Hem Chandra Kanungo Hemchandra Das Kanungo (4 August 1871 – 8 April 1951) was an Indian nationalist and a member of the Anushilan Samiti. Kanungo travelled to Paris in 1907, where he learnt the technique of assembling picric acid bombs from exiled Russian revo ...

and

Bhupendranath Dutta Bhupendranath Datta (4 September 1880 – 25 December 1961) was an Indian revolutionary and later a noted sociologist and anthropologist. He associated Rishi Aurobindo in his political works. In his youth, he was closely associated with the ...

and re-engaged in nationalist independence movements against the Raj. A string of violence through 1923 saw murders of police witnesses and informers, culminating in the attempt to assassinate

Charles Tegart Sir Charles Augustus Tegart (5 October 1881 – 6 April 1946) was an Irish-born police officer who served in British India and Palestine. Tegart was the mastermind behind the creation of the Arab Investigation Centres in Palestine during the ...

Gopinath Saha Gopinath Saha or Gopi Mohan Saha (16 December 1905 — 1 March 1924) was a Bengali activist for Indian independence (from British rule) and member of the Indian independence movementKalikatha, Via Bypass - Page 30 On 12 January 1924, he attempted ...

, leading to the mistaken killing of another European. In response, following a number of requests from the Governor of Bengal, the ordinance was enacted extending the extraordinary powers of the Regulation III of 1818. It removed rights of ''

Habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'', reintroduced measures of indefinite and arbitrary detentions, and trials by tribunal without jury and without right of appeal. The ordinance was enacted into law in 1925 and remained in force for 5 years. Almost One hundred and fifty people were detained under the law, including among the notable detainees

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

, later Congress leader. The act was re-enacted in 1930, and later formed a basis for the Burma Criminal Law Amendment in 1931.

References

*History of the Freedom Movement in India (1857-1947). By S. N. Sen.p 245. *The History of British India: A Chronology. By John F. Riddick. p106 *Emergency Powers in Asia: Exploring the Limits of Legality. By Victor V. Ramraj, Arun K. Thiruvengadam. p199-200
Hansard record of House of Lords debate on Bengal OrdinanceSouth Asia Archive records of Bengal Criminal Law Ordinance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Defence Of India Act 1915 Legislation in British India Anushilan Samiti 1925 in India 1925 in law 1925 in British law

See also

References