State of U.P. v. Raj Narain — RTI Wiki Citizen Guide 2026
Quick Reply: Foundational articulation of citizen's right to know the workings of government under Article 19[1][a]. Pre-RTI foundation: 'people are entitled to know the.
Supreme Court of India · 1975-01-24 · (1975) 4 SCC 428 · ★ Landmark
Pre-RTI foundation: 'people are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing'.
Case details
| Court | Supreme Court of India |
|---|---|
| Decided | 1975-01-24 |
| Citation | (1975) 4 SCC 428 |
| Bench | A.N. Ray, K.K. Mathew, M. Hameedullah Beg, Y.V. Chandrachud, P.N. Bhagwati |
| Petitioner | State of U.P. |
| Respondent | Raj Narain & Ors. |
| RTI Act sections | — |
| Outcome | Applicant allowed |
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Outcome
Foundational articulation of citizen's right to know the workings of government under Article 19(1)(a).
Ratio decidendi
In a government of responsibility like ours, the people have a right to know every public act, every thing that is done in a public way, by their functionaries. The right to know flows from Article 19(1)(a).
Keywords
right to know, Article 19(1)(a), foundational, pre-RTI
Later rulings that cite this case
- CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay (SC 2011)
- ADR v. Union of India (Electoral Bonds) (SC 2024)
Similar cases in the corpus
These rulings have the closest editorial ratio to this case — computed by tf-idf cosine similarity over ratio, keywords and Act sections. Useful starting points if you are researching the same point of law.
- Union of India v. ADR (2002) (SC 2002)
- ADR v. Union of India (Electoral Bonds) (SC 2024)
- K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (SC 2017)
- Education right-to-know — SC directive (SC 2023)
Related
Editorial summary, not a certified report. The ratio here is an editorial compression. Before citing this ruling in a PIO order, FAA speaking order, or any appellate filing, verify against the full reported decision. RTI Wiki is not a legal service.
Editorial summary · last reviewed 21 April 2026.
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