On Thursday, June 5th, a verdict for the plaintiff, Sir
Michael O'Dwyer, was given in his libel action against Sir Sankaran Nair. Sir Sankaran Nair wrote a book called Gandhi and Anarchism, in which Sir Michael O'Dwyer was accused of using methods of terrorism to obtain recruits for the British Army during the War. _ and for being responsible for the notorious Amritsar incident. Mr. Justice McCardie, in summing up, clearly distinguished between the two parts of the case. The defence had to prove (1) that General Dyer's action at Amritsar was a wrong one, and (2) that Sir Michael O'Dwyer, as Governor of the Punjab, was responsible for it. But, as Mr. Justice McCardie pointed out, if it was established that Sir Michael O'Dwyer was not responsible for General Dyer's actions, the question of the character of these actions themselves did not arise.
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