When Is Telling The Truth No Better Than Lying?

Kant defines a lie as an “intentionally untruthful declaration”.

Kant identifies truthfulness as an utterance that accurately represents one’s thoughts (including one’s beliefs), regardless of whether those thoughts are themselves accurate.
Kant argues that lying is not permissible, but he allows for engaging in deception through careful word choice or evasion.

Mahābhārata, the great Indian epic, reveals through its illustrations that failure to recognise the value of truth lies not in uttering true words but rather in truth’s conduciveness to trustworthiness. 

Both characters, Kauśika and Yudhiṣṭhira, have been untrustworthy: Yudhiṣṭhira, by omitting the full truth, and Kausika in valuing his own reputation for truthfulness above even the lives of innocents.

Rather than lying and truthfulness hinging on the impersonal logic of assertions and declarations, one should also attend to the broader context of the utterance.