 He was, however, charged with sedition, on account of the pamphlet entitled "India and China" that he had written on Clemens Dutt's instructions.He was tried by jury and – the judge, Mr. Justice Fawcett, having summed up very leniently – they found in his favour.Hansard records show that on 28 November 1927, Shapurji Saklatvala, the MP for Battersea North, questions Earl Winterton (then Under-Secretary of State for India in Baldwin's government) about the wrongful detention of Philip Spratt for six weeks prior to his trial.