UPSC Mains 2018 GS Paper 4 Q6c: model answer
"Falsehood takes the place of truth when it results in unblemished common good." – Tirukkural
What the question wants
Explain what the Tirukkural's line, that falsehood can take truth's place when it produces unblemished common good, means today.
How to structure it
Meaning, examples, risks, officer.
- Meaning
- Where it applies
- Dangers
- Strict conditions
How to think it through
Kural 292: 'Even falsehood is of the nature of truth if it confers a benefit free from fault.' Not licence to lie; benefit must be faultless and for the common good, not self. Examples: doctor withholding grim prognosis temporarily; hiding refugees from attackers; police calming panic during a stampede; wartime deception. Kant's opposite view (murderer at the door). Dangers: governments misuse 'national interest', misinformation; officer must not lie to courts/public; prefer silence/discretion over falsehood.
Model answer
Thiruvalluvar's couplet (Kural 292) says that even a falsehood has the nature of truth if it brings a good that is free from any fault. It is not a licence to lie; it sets a very high bar.
What it means
- Two conditions: the good must be for others, and it must be unblemished, harming no one.
Where it may apply
- During a stampede, an officer announces that more exits are open to calm a crowd while staff open them.
- Families who hid neighbours from mobs during riots lied to save lives.
The dangers
- Kant disagreed: lying, even to a murderer at the door, undermines trust itself.
- Governments can stretch 'common good' to justify propaganda and cover-ups.
- Once caught, even one well-meant lie damages all future credibility.
For a public servant
- Prefer discretion or silence to a lie.
- Never lie to courts, auditors or the public about facts they are entitled to know, and explain any exception later.
The couplet trusts the wise to bend truth only to protect life; the rest of us should rarely try.
Draw: A narrow gate labelled 'faultless + for others + rare' through which a falsehood may pass; a wide wall otherwise.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Thiruvalluvar, Tirukkural Kural 292, unblemished common good, benevolent deception, stampede, Kant murderer at the door, propaganda risk, credibility, discretion over lying.
Where most answers lose marks
- Reading the couplet as permission to lie whenever convenient.
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Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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