RAS question
The Indian Press Act was passed in:
Correct answer: (D) 1910.
The Indian Press Act was passed in 1910 during Lord Minto's tenure, after the 1908 Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act.
Explanation
The Indian Press Act belongs to the repressive press-law sequence of the early twentieth century. The Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act was passed in 1908 and was followed by the Indian Press Act, 1910. The 1910 Act gave magistrates and local governments strong financial control over presses and newspaper publishers by requiring security deposits; publication of objectionable matter could lead to confiscation of that security. The definition of seditious writing was expanded, and provincial governments, not courts, decided which publication was objectionable. This places the Indian Press Act in 1910, not 1908.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1908 refers to the Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act, a separate law preceding the Indian Press Act.
- (B) 1912 is not correct because the Indian Press Act followed the 1908 Act and was the 1910 Act.
- (C) 1915 belongs to a later wartime legal context, while the Indian Press Act was a 1910 measure.
Concept
This tests colonial restrictions on the nationalist press, a standard Modern Indian History theme. RAS often asks such questions because press laws show how nationalist politics, sedition, and executive control developed under British rule.