Table of Contents

Module 01 — The journalist's RTI playbook

RTI for Journalists — Investigative Filing Course Module 01

Goal: Understand how RTI fits into the investigative reporting workflow.

Why journalists love RTI

RTI is the cheapest, fastest legal method to extract government records. Compared to source-based reporting (slow, leak-dependent) or paid-database trawls (expensive), RTI gives legally sourced, citable, court-admissible records for ₹10 in 30 days.

Flagship investigations powered by RTI: P. Chidambaram's daughter-in-law assets (HT, 2019), CWG payment scams (Indian Express, 2010-12), Adarsh Society allotments (TOI, 2010), VVIP helicopter scam (Caravan, 2013), Vyapam scam multiple outlets (2015-19), Pegasus surveillance (Wire/Caravan, 2021), CSR fund misuse (LiveMint, 2023).

What records to ask for in any beat

  1. Tender + contract files — beneficiary, value, awarded date, completion certificate.
  2. Inspection reports + audit observations — internal critiques are gold.
  3. Disciplinary actions — show patterns of misconduct.
  4. File notings + minutes of meetings — show who decided what when.
  5. Beneficiary lists for govt schemes — find ghost beneficiaries (§4(1)(b)(xii) actually mandates publication).
  6. Travel / hospitality / fuel logs — for VIP misuse stories.
  7. Vacancies + recruitment — for back-door hire stories.
  8. Complaints register — for systemic-failure stories.

The 90-second triage

Before drafting an RTI, ask:

  1. Is the record likely to exist? Was there an invoice, an order, a meeting?
  2. Which authority holds it? Multiple? File parallel.
  3. Will §8 block it? §8(1)(d) commercial-confidence and §8(1)(j) privacy are the most-invoked.
  4. Will §11 third-party notice add weeks? If so, frame to avoid named individuals.
  5. Is there a 30-day window for the story? If yes, file day 1 + Speed Post + Twitter-trail for FOIA-style pressure.

Multi-PIO coordination

The killer move: file the same RTI to 5+ PIOs at once — central + state + local. Different PIOs respond differently. Compare. Find the contradiction.

Example: an RTI on COVID vaccine wastage went to (i) Health Ministry PIO, (ii) State Health Dept PIO, (iii) DM offices in 5 districts. The variance between Centre's (“3% wastage”) and DM data (“22% wastage” in one district) became the story.

When NOT to use RTI

  1. Time-sensitive story with <30 day window — RTI takes 30+ days minimum. Use sources / leaks.
  2. Information already published under §4(1)(b) — go to the public website first; only if missing, RTI.
  3. Active investigation — §8(1)(h) will block it; wait or use closure-report stage.
  4. Personal-information tip-off — §8(1)(j) is hard to overcome without strong public-interest test.
  5. National security — §8(1)(a) is a near-absolute bar.

✅ Quiz

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Last reviewed: 24 April 2026.

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