📘 Question (IAS Prelims 2025 | GS-I)

Who provided legal defence to the people arrested in the aftermath of the Chauri Chaura incident?

(a) C. R. Das
(b) Madan Mohan Malaviya and Krishna Kant
(c) Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Khwaja Hasan Nizami
(d) M. A. Jinnah

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✅ Correct Answer

(b) Madan Mohan Malaviya and Krishna Kant

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🎯 Theme of the Question

Modern India | National Movement | Non-Cooperation Movement | Nationalist legal resistance

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🧠 Classroom Explanation

The Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922) marked a decisive turning point in the Indian National Movement. Following an outbreak of violence, Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement on moral grounds.

In the aftermath, the British government launched one of the harshest mass trials of the freedom struggle. The question tests whether aspirants know who stepped in to defend the accused villagers legally, not politically.

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🔥 Chauri Chaura Incident: Brief Context

• Date: 4 February 1922
• Location: Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur district (Uttar Pradesh)
• Event: Protestors set fire to a police station
• Casualties: 22 policemen killed

Gandhi viewed the violence as a failure of non-violent discipline and suspended the Non-Cooperation Movement.

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⚖️ The British Trial: Scale and Severity

• Total accused: 225 villagers
• Trial court: Gorakhpur Sessions Court
• Judge: H. E. Holmes
• Duration: about 8 months

Initial verdict (extremely harsh):

• 170 sentenced to death
• 47 acquitted
• 6 died in police custody
• 2 sentenced to imprisonment

This was among the largest mass death sentences delivered in a single colonial trial.

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🧑‍⚖️ Role of Madan Mohan Malaviya

Madan Mohan Malaviya, assisted by Krishna Kant, undertook the legal defence.

Malaviya:

• Was a renowned lawyer and nationalist
• Founder of Banaras Hindu University (1916)
• Had withdrawn from legal practice for politics
• Returned to the courts specifically to defend the Chauri Chaura accused

Outcome of the appeal:

• 153 death sentences overturned
• Only 19 executions ultimately carried out

This intervention saved hundreds of villagers from the gallows.

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❌ Why Other Options Are Incorrect

• C. R. Das → Known for nationalist legal work in Bengal, not this case
• M. A. Jinnah → Prominent lawyer-politician, but no role here
• Saifuddin Kitchlew & Khwaja Hasan Nizami → Associated with Khilafat and Punjab politics, not Chauri Chaura

👉 Chauri Chaura legal defence = Malaviya + Krishna Kant

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🧩 One-Line Ready Recall

Chauri Chaura (1922) → Mass trial → Death sentences → Legal defence by Malaviya & Krishna Kant → 153 lives saved

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🧠 Prelims Strategy Insight

If the question mentions legal defence, think Malaviya

UPSC often tests support roles in the freedom struggle

Movements are not fought only on streets, but also in courtrooms