LANDMARK CASE
R. Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu
(1994) 6 SCC 632 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law
At a glance
- Citation: (1994) 6 SCC 632
- Court: Supreme Court of India
- Area of law: Constitutional law
- In one line: The right to privacy exists, but publication based on public records is allowed, and public officials cannot claim damages for true statements about official duties unless reckless.
1 Facts
A magazine sought to publish a prisoner's autobiography mentioning officials, and authorities tried to stop it.
2 Issue
Can the state restrain publication about public officials based on public records?
3 What the court decided
The right to privacy exists, but publication based on public records is allowed, and public officials cannot claim damages for true statements about official duties unless reckless.
4 Why it matters
It developed privacy and press freedom together.
5 Think about it
How does this balance privacy with the public's right to know?
6 Analyse it yourself
Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.
7 More cases on Constitutional law
- A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
- ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
- Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
- Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi (1981) 1 SCC 722
- Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
- Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637
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