Vernacular Press Act

In British India, the Vernacular Press Act (Act of 1878) was enacted to curtail the freedom of the Indian press and prevent the expression of criticism toward British policies—notably, the opposition that had grown with the outset of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80). The act was proposed by Lord Lytton, then Viceroy of India, and was unanimously passed by the Viceroy's Council on March 14, 1878. The act excluded English-language publications as it was meant to control seditious writing in 'publications in Oriental languages' everywhere in the country, except for the South.But the British totally discriminated the Indian Press.

The act empowered the government to impose restrictions on the press in the following ways:

1.) Modelled on the Irish press act, this act provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the Vernacular press.

2.) From now on the government kept regular track of Vernacular newspapers.

3.) When a report published in the newspaper was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned.

4.)No Indian was allowed to carry arms without license

The first periodicals in India were under the control of East India Company, and the press sometimes created a problem for the interests of the company. This resulted in the first two papers being banned—one started by Bolt and the Bengal Gazette. Lord Wellesley regulated the press again in 1899; according to which press had to show and get approval of the government before the publication of any manuscript including advertisement. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the "Gagging Act” had been passed by Lord Canning which sought to regulate the establishment of printing presses and to restrain the mad of printed mater. All presses had to have a license from the government with distinction between publications in English and other regional languages. The Act also held that no printed material shall impugn the motives of the British Raj, tending to bring it hatred and contempt and exciting unlawful resistance to its orders. When the British Government found that the Gagging Act was not potent enough to repress all nationalist sentiments, it created a more forcible law, designed in part by Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot and Sir Ashley Eden, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.

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