Right to Information Wiki
Journalists' RTI course - final certificate

Final certificate page for the Journalists' RTI course - 6 modules on investigative RTI, scoop-grade evidence, Section 4 proactive disclosure exploitation.

Journalists' RTI course - final certificate

You have completed the 6-module Journalists' RTI course. The course trains reporters, editors, fact-checkers and freelance investigators to use the Right to Information Act, 2005 as a primary investigative source - building scoop-grade evidence, exploiting §4 proactive-disclosure obligations, and drafting RTIs that survive PIO §8 stonewalling.

What you covered

  1. Module 1: The journalist's first-RTI playbook - converting a tip into a §6(1) application that produces a story-ready record. Pattern: 5 specific records ranked by news-value, all asked in a single RTI.
  2. Module 2: §4 exploitation - every public authority is required to proactively disclose 17 categories of information under §4(1)(b) of the RTI Act. If the data is not on the website, that is itself a story (and an RTI).
  3. Module 3: Beat-by-beat strategy - urban-civic, education, health, defence procurement, environment, electoral. State-specific PIO directories at PIO Directory.
  4. Module 4: Surviving §8 stonewalling - the 10 standard refusal grounds and the citation arsenal that beats each. Bhagat Singh v. CIC (procedural objections), Girish Deshpande (limits of personal info), Subhash Agarwal (public-interest balance test).
  5. Module 5: Deadline busting - using the §19(1) First Appeal in 30 days flat, escalating to the CIC/SIC under §19(3), and the High Court Article 226 writ.
  6. Module 6: Editorial integrity - sourcing rules, redaction protocol, FOIA-style attribution, PII anonymisation per the DPDP Act 2023 consent rules.

Certificate

  • Issued to: [download from the link sent to your registered email]
  • Issued by: RTI Wiki Editorial Team, May 2026
  • Verifies: Completion of 6-module journalists' RTI training, with 30 case studies and 18 sample RTIs
  • Verification URL: https://righttoinformation.wiki/verify-cert.html

What to do next

  1. File your first investigative RTI - use our AI RTI Drafter.
  2. Set up tracking for every active RTI - Timeline Tracker alerts you on Day 30 + Day 60.
  3. Read the case-law arsenal: RTI case-law database - 300+ decisions you can cite.

Citations grounded in this course

  • RTI Act, 2005 - §4 (proactive disclosure), §6(1), §7(1), §8 (exemptions), §10 (severability), §19 (appeals).
  • Bhagat Singh v. CIC (2008) Delhi HC - procedural objections cannot defeat RTI.
  • Girish Deshpande v. CIC (2013) 1 SCC 212 - what is “personal information”.
  • CPIO SC v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (2020) 5 SCC 481 - public-interest balance.
  • Anjali Bhardwaj v. UoI (2019) 9 SCC 199 - IC vacancies and timely appointments.
  • DPDP Act, 2023, §44(3) - amendment to §8(1)(j).

Last reviewed: 4 May 2026.

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