The Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1907 An Act to make better provision for the prevention of public meetings likely to promote sedition or to cause a disturbance of public tranquillity was a 1907 act of the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

enabling the government to prohibit political meetings. The "area of operation" of the act was any Province of British India specified by

order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

of the Governor-General noted in the ''

Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India, published weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As a public journal, the ''Gazette'' prints offic ...

''. The government of a province within the "area of operation" could then designate part or all of the province a "proclaimed area", noted in the provincial gazette. Each such notice would be valid for six months, but could be extended by the provincial government. In a proclaimed area, there were restrictions on public meetings with discussion, or distribution of written material, of "any subject likely to cause disturbance or public excitement or ... any political subject".Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act 1907 §4(1) Meetings over 20 or more people were presumed to be public. Such meetings were prohibited unless the police commissioner or district

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

either gave written permission or received three days' advance notice in writing. The police could attend such a meeting, and the

district magistrate A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reve ...

or police commissioner could prohibit meetings "promoting disaffection or sedition". Organising or speaking at a prohibited meeting was punishable by six months' imprisonment and/or a fine. The act was raised in the British House of Commons in February 1908 by Vickerman Rutherford, who questioned its effects on "the interests of good relations between the rulers and the ruled." Donald Mackenzie Smeaton defended the Act, noting that "the Regulation of 1818 and Subsidiary Local Regulations conferring similar powers were of immense value in and after the pacification of Burma in ridding the country not only of the enemies of the Government, but of the

enemies of the people The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are ac ...

. . . ." The act was extended until 31 March 1911, when the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1911 was passed to replace it.

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{{reflist 1907 in India Legislation in British India Political repression in British India 1907 in law 1907 in British law