'By accepting Sir Michael O'Dwyer's challenge, Sir Sankaran Nair had put the British constitution and the British people on trial. They [were] tried and found wanting.'Mahatma Gandhi

History buffs that we are, this strong statement by the Father of the Nation that graces the jacket of the just-released book, The Case that Shook the Empire (Bloomsbury) proved enough temptation to devour it in 48 hours. Surprised that such an important case had skipped our history textbooks through school and college, we looked forward to our meeting with the writers who had pieced this case together. First to greet us at their Pedder Road home is Raghu Palat, banker, consultant, teacher and prolific author. "So, did the book draw your attention?" he enquires, as we settle into their artfully done living room. His wife, Pushpa, a bestselling author and veteran journalist for over three decades, joins us. And soon enough, we begin to join the dots on this explosive case that rocked Britain and the Indian subcontinent in 1924. Sir Michael O'Dwyer, former lieutenant governor of the Punjab who ordered multiple atrocities in the region, had filed a defamation case against Sir Nair for having named him responsible for these acts in his book. What ensued was a five-week-long legal battle at the Court of the King's Bench in London—the highest court in the British Empire.