The Delhi high court (DHC) went Android last week with an app designed to download its display board, case status, and case history tabs in a one-click functionality on users’ Android mobile phones.

DHC practicing advocate and Amity Delhi 2011 graduate Abhimanyu Chopra, an associate at Gaggar & Associates, is the technical hand behind the app.

Chopra said: “I was asked by the judges to make an app in August 2013. Something on similar terms like that of [the Supreme Court]. I went a step ahead and made an app with specific tabs that lawyers usually use for HC Services, like the cause list, display board, orders by date, by judges, by registrars etc.”

The biggest utility of the app, he felt, was in minimising the pain of opening a browser and then going through all the steps that follow to access any of the tabs on the DHC’s website.

Legally India asked the techy lawyer some questions by email to find out more about the app-story.

How is the app better than that designed for the SC?

The DHC app also provides and highlights a new feature which most lawyers are unaware of – the “Case history” tab. This tab is a boon to lawyers as this gives them the dates , court details and whatever happened since the inception of a particular case.

So let us take an example. For a case filed in the year 2000, with the advocates involved changing multiple times, the app provides when the vakalatnama was filed, when the certified copy was applied for, even the date of filing of the process fee of service.

Litigants and lawyers can also keep tab of processes and inform the judges of when something was scheduled to happen and when it actually did, since practically many adjournments happen when litigants haven’t served the copies or filed the process fees for their cases.

Did you sit coding the app all by yourself, or asked for helping hands?

I have done the coding myself with the help of developer tools available.

As a lawyer, what motivates you to get down and dirty with things like codes?

I was always what people might call a techie and I was always interested in computers and I coded in law school extensively. I have tested quite a lot of beta apps and even sold some.

What was the most challenging part of developing this app? Did you try any new experiments or innovations?

Well, essentially the most challenging part was to keep a simple user interface and for it to be effective and a useful app for lawyers. The whole exercise of developing an app was aimed at making the process of accessing the DHC faster and smoother than on the website. So the build-up that I made was keeping this in mind and you wouldn’t find any unnecessary contents in the app that would slow it down.

What has the feedback been with the app?

The feedback that I have received has been quite overwhelming. Everybody liked the app and said it’s quite helpful and faster than the website. The app has already been downloaded over 500 times.

Are you looking into putting the app on Google Play Store?

Yes.

What features are planned for future releases? Will it be out for IOS and Windows Phone?

There are a lot of upgrades in mind. So, you can expect more options and functioning changes soon. It was launched for Android first as the platform doesn’t allow sites or tabs right on the home screen. This app is kind of a preview app for more apps to come in the future and it would be out for other platforms as well.

How does this app compare to other similar court apps around the world?

I didn’t come across any such app in the Play Store or otherwise for any courts around the world except the US courts which have an app for the law clerks. I think this would be a first of its kind app which would have a real time transmission factor available for the courts. Certain features like the display board and case history – a necessity for lawyers – set it apart.

App available here or via this QR code. Before installing, you need to go to Settings –> Security on your Android device, and check ‘Unknown Sources’.