The Viceroy of India when the Rowlatt Act (1919) was passed was:

Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921, during which the Rowlatt Act was passed in March 1919.

About the Rowlatt Act:

• Its official name was the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act, 1919.
• It was based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Justice Sidney Rowlatt, which had examined revolutionary activities in India.
• It allowed the government to arrest and imprison people without trial for up to two years, and to try cases without juries.
• It was passed despite the united opposition of the Indian members of the Imperial Legislative Council.
• Some Indian members, such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Mazharul Haq, resigned in protest.
• It was called the "Black Act" by Indians.
• Indians described it with the slogan "no vakil, no dalil, no appeal" (no lawyer, no argument, no appeal).

The Rowlatt Satyagraha:

• Gandhi launched a nationwide protest, the Rowlatt Satyagraha, his first all-India movement.
• He called for a hartal (strike) across India, on 6 April 1919.
• Protests and violence occurred in several places, especially in Punjab.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in Amritsar soon after (13 April 1919).
• The Act was never actually used, and was repealed in 1922.

Other events of Chelmsford's time:

• The Home Rule Leagues of Tilak and Annie Besant (1916).
• The visit of the Secretary of State to India (1917), and the announcement of the goal of responsible government.
• The Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919).

The founding of the Women's University at Pune (1916) by D. K. Karve.

The influenza pandemic of 1918, which killed millions of Indians.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Lord Hardinge II was his predecessor.
• ✗Lord Reading succeeded him.
• ✗Lord Minto II was an earlier Viceroy.