Statute and case law are necessary — but officers improve fastest from practice on facts they haven't seen before. The legal framework you'll need is in the core CPD course. This drill applies it.

• 1 fact pattern · 200-400 words · 7 days to draft your answer.
• Publish your draft in the comments / Q&A board (or save privately to your notes).
• Model answer published the following Monday with statutory + case-law reasoning.
• Best citizen draft (each week) gets pinned at the top.

A citizen in Lucknow filed an RTI on 05 April 2026 with the District Magistrate's office seeking the following five items:

1. Total expenditure on official vehicle fuel by the DM's office for FY 2024-25, broken down by quarter.
2. List of files marked “URGENT” by the DM's PA between 01 January 2026 and 31 March 2026.
3. Personal call records of the DM's official mobile number for the same period.
4. Reasons recorded by the DM for rejecting a previous RTI by the same applicant on 12 February 2026.
5. Copies of all letters sent to the State Government by the DM's office about a specific land-acquisition case in which the applicant is a party.

The PIO replied on 30 April 2026 (i.e. on Day 26):

1. For (1): provided the figures.
2. For (2): refused under §8(1)(j) (“administrative confidentiality”).
3. For (3): refused under §8(1)(j).
4. For (4): refused — said “you should know what you were told.”
5. For (5): refused under §8(1)(d) (“commercial confidence”).

Draft the First Appeal under §19(1) that the citizen should file. Specifically:

1. Identify the procedural defects in the PIO reply (timeline, reasoning, severability, sub-clause citation).
2. For each refused item, state the correct statutory test the PIO should have applied.
3. Cite at least 3 case-law anchors.
4. Propose what the FAA should order on each item (allow / part-allow / dismiss / remand-for-reasoned-order).
5. Mention any §20 penalty argument.

Submit by: end of Sunday, 28 April 2026. Format: paste into a new Q&A thread tagged weekly-drill-2026-04-21, or save privately in My notes. Length: 400-600 words.

• §7(1) timeline + reasoned-refusal requirement — see Module 4.
• §8(1)(j) — Khanapuram Gandaiah; Karnataka HC 9-Feb-2026 (educational qualifications); private-call distinction. Module 5.
• §8(1)(d) commercial confidence — narrowly read in tender / land-acquisition context. Module 5.
• Severability under §10. Module 7.
• FAA speaking-order requirements — Bombay HC 02-March-2026. Module 9.

• Week of 14 April 2026 — model answer published. → Read (scaffolded — full content in next release)
• Week of 07 April 2026 — model answer published. → Read (scaffolded)

• Each drill is sourced from a CIC/HC order in the past 7 days — guaranteed real, current, and tested in actual practice.
• Best participant draft each week gets featured here + cited in next quarter's update addendum.
• The drill exercises feed the question pool for the annual recertification quiz — completing 12+ drills in a year auto-passes the recert quiz.

• CPD course · 🎴 Flashcards · 📝 My notes · 🆕 Quarterly update

Last reviewed: 24 April 2026. Next drill: 28 April 2026.