Rowlatt 's paternal great-grandfather , Sir Sidney Rowlatt , was a prominent judge on the King 's Bench Division of the High Court of England and Wales . In 1918 , he headed the controversial Rowlatt Committee to evaluate terrorism and seditious movements in British India , and drafted the repressive Rowlatt Act , which authorised stricter press censorship and the arrest and indefinite detention of suspects without due process . The passage of the Act in March 1919 ignited protests across the subcontinent and led directly to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre ; it has been cited as a major factor in stimulating and expanding the Indian independence movement . As the South Asia correspondent for the BBC , Rowlatt acknowledged his family connection in August 2017 . In a BBC article examining the post-1947 India-British relationship , he said he had initially been worried his surname would prove a handicap during his posting in India , but that it had not , as the nation had largely moved on
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Justin Rowlatt