MCQ
Q.
In which year was the Vernacular Press Act passed?
Correct Answer: B
The correct answer is 1878.
- Vernacular press act was passed in 1878.
Key Points
- The Vernacular Press Act, 1878 came to be known as the Gagging Act as it discriminated between the English and the Vernacular Press.
- Vernacular Press Act, in British India, the law enacted in 1878 to curtail the freedom of the Indian-language (i.e., non-English) press.
- Lord Lytton passed the Vernacular Press Act 1878.
- He also passed the Arms Act 1878 that prohibited Indians from carrying weapons of any kind without licenses.
Additional Information
- Indian National Awakening was the prime motive of vernacular newspapers.
- The law was repealed in 1881 by Lytton’s successor, Lord Ripon.
- Provisions of the Vernacular Press Act, 1878 include :
- The publisher had to deposit the security and in case of infringement of the provision of the act the security could be forfeited.
- If the offence reoccurred, the press equipment could be seized.