The Supreme Court of India, for the first time, was a petitioner before the Delhi High Court, the first appellate court which is itself subject to the Supreme Court’s superior appellate jurisdiction. The issue pertained to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information from the Chief Justice of India (CJI), KG Balakrishnan. Who was the information-applicant?

In 2009-2010, RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal sought information about the CJI's assets declaration. When the Supreme Court refused, the matter went to the Delhi High Court, making this a historic first where the Supreme Court appeared as a petitioner before a lower court. G.E. Vahanvati was then Attorney General, Ravindra Bhat is a judge, and Prashant Bhushan is a lawyer-activist but not the applicant in this specific case.