Excited states in the transitional doubly odd 98 Rh nucleus were populated in the 75 As( 28 Si,2p3n) fusionevaporation reaction using the 120-MeV incident 28 Si beam. The subsequent de-excitations were investigated through in-beam γ -ray spectroscopic techniques using an early implementation phase of the Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) spectrometer equipped with 18 clover Ge detectors. The level structures in 98 Rh have been established up to excitation energy ≈10 MeV and angular momentum ∼23 . The previously reported level schemes are considerably modified and extended substantially. Significant expansion of the level scheme at low excitation energies stipulates that the previously reported 842-726-994-980-265 keV γ -transition cascade in 98 Rh is not directly based on the ground state (T 1/2 = 8.7 min). Tilted-axis cranking (TAC) shell-model calculations have been used to put the present level scheme of 98 Rh in perspective. Level structures have been interpreted in terms of the rotational bands based on the πp 1/2 ⊗ νh 11/2 [triaxiality parameter (γ ) = 25 • ], and πf 5/2 ⊗ νh 11/2 proton-neutron configurations having moderate quadrupole deformation ( 2 ≈ 0.13) and the admixtures. Excited band structures are based on the πp 1/2 /f 5/2 ⊗ π (g 9/2 ) 2 ⊗ νh 11/2 configuration and the fully stretched [πp 1/2 ⊗ ν(h 11/2 ) 2 ⊗ νd 5/2 ] 13 − configuration.