Sankaran Nair was knighted in 1912. In 1915 he joined the Viceroy's Council as member for education. In that office he frequently urged Indian constitutional reforms, and he supported the Montagu-Chelmsford plan (1918), according to which India would gradually achieve self-government within the British Empire. He resigned from the council in 1919 in protest against the protracted use of martial law to quell unrest in the Punjab. n his book Gandhi and Anarchy (1922), Sankaran Nair attacked Gandhi's nationalist noncooperation movement and British actions under martial law. A British court held that this work libelled Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer, lieutenant governor of India during the Punjab rebellion of 1919.

"Gandhi and Anarchy" by C. Sir Sankaran Nair provides valuable insights into the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most influential figures in the Indian independence movement. Sir Sankaran Nair's work delves into Gandhi's commitment to non-violence and his views on anarchy and self-governance. By examining Gandhi's principles and his role in India's struggle for freedom, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of the political and philosophical landscape of the time. It serves as a significant historical document that sheds light on the ideals and aspirations of the Indian independence movement.

The father of Indian independence, Gandhi was also a political theorist who challenged mainstream ideas. Sovereignty, he said, depends on the consent of citizens willing to challenge the state nonviolently when it acts immorally. The culmination of the inner struggle to recognize one’s duty to act is the ultimate “Gandhian moment.”