Story credibility, ranked:

1. Leaked document alone: low (forgery risk)
2. Leaked document + RTI confirming key fact: medium-high (corroboration)
3. RTI alone with citation + serial: high (legally sourced)
4. Court / SIC order: highest

The RTI step is what moves a story from 'allegation' to 'reportable'.

1. Date validation: RTI for the official's calendar / register / log on the date the leaked document is dated. If the meeting noted in the leak occurred, RTI shows it.
2. Fund-trail validation: leaked invoice → RTI for the corresponding bank credit / treasury entry. If the payment happened, RTI confirms.
3. Signatory validation: leaked order signed by X → RTI for X's posting / charge during that period.
4. Recipient validation: leak says 'sent to Y dept' → RTI to Y dept for inward letter register entry.

1. Never reference the leak in the RTI. Frame as if you stumbled into the question.
2. Don't ask for the leaked document itself — ask for the next link in the chain.
3. File from a personal address, not the newsroom address.
4. Don't share the RTI ref no. with the source.
5. Use IPO + Speed Post (paper trail you control) over online portal (state logs IP).

Before publishing RTI-sourced data:

1. Confirm the PIO actually issued it (keep the original reply with stamp + signature).
2. Don't paraphrase numbers in the headline if the underlying record is partial — quote the PIO's exact figure.
3. For named individuals, get a comment first; quote the refusal/no-response.
4. For privileged-source mention, anonymise per Bharucha Committee norms.

For state + central + city PIOs replying differently (the 'multi-PIO contradiction' play):

1. Time the publication to the slowest reply.
2. Publish all replies side-by-side as a primary asset (not buried in PDF).
3. Quote each PIO by name + designation (their replies are public).
4. Submit comment requests simultaneously to all named officers.

Quiz available from your course dashboard.

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Last reviewed: 24 April 2026.