a Government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets.

The Apex Court in State of U.P. v. Raj Narain (1975 (4) SCC 428) held that in a Government of responsibility like ours, where W.P(C) No.1240 of 2015 all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. The following was laid down in paragraph 74:

"74. In a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. The right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security...".