Assertion: During the emergency, the government arrested and detained a large number of people.

Reason: The government made extensive use of preventive detention and arrested them not because they have committed any offense, but on the apprehension that they may commit an offense.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The government made extensive use of preventive detention. Under this provision, people are arrested and detained not because they have committed any offence, but on the apprehension that they may commit an offence. Using preventive detention acts, the government made large scale arrests during the Emergency. Arrested political workers could not challenge their arrest through habeas corpus petitions.