A repressive law passed under Viceroy Lord Lytton in 1878 to control and censor Indian-language (vernacular) newspapers that were critical of British rule.
- Passed in 1878 under Lord Lytton, it was aimed specifically at the vernacular (Indian-language) press, leaving the English-language press untouched, and so was nicknamed the "Gagging Act".
- It empowered district magistrates to demand security from a printer or publisher and to forfeit it, along with the press equipment, if "objectionable" matter was published.
- It denied the vernacular press the right of appeal to a court, a sharp curtailment of press freedom and civil liberties.
- It provoked strong protest; the Amrita Bazar Patrika famously turned itself overnight into an English-language paper to escape the Act.
- It was repealed in 1882 by Lord Ripon, a liberal Viceroy, who is also associated with local self-government reforms.
It is a classic example of colonial curbs on the freedom of the press and a discriminatory law (vernacular versus English), with clear civil-liberties significance.
The Vernacular Press Act (1878) targeted only the vernacular press, not the English press; it was passed by Lytton and repealed by Ripon (1882).
1878 "Gagging Act" under Lytton: censored Indian-language press, no court appeal; repealed by Ripon in 1882.