Bharti Enterprises to provide legal and financial assistance to underprivileged under-trials

PUNE: Bharti Enterprises is rolling out a corporate initiative to provide legal assistance and aid and awareness/literacy to underprivileged under-trials across the country. In very deserving cases, Nyaya Bharti will help the under-trials by paying the bail and surety amounts. The initiative will be solely focused on district courts where criminal cases are initiated.
It is estimated that there are over 2, 80,000 under-trials in approximately 1387 jails in India constituting nearly 68% of the total prisoner population. This proportion is amongst the world's ten worst (Data Source: NCRB reports). Many of these under-trials have been in custody for periods longer than the prison term had they had been convicted.
‘Nyaya Bharti’ aims to help the deserving under-trials exercise their fundamental right to legal defense and present their case before the courts. It will have a screening committee of independent persons that will identify the cases that need to be taken up.
Bharti Airtel will provide an annual grant of Rs 10 Crores on an ongoing basis towards this initiative. Several leading lawyers from across the country have extended their support to the initiative and will provide pro-bono services. Top Law firm AZB & Partners and EY will also provide pro-bono legal, administrative and governance support respectively.
The Nyaya Bharti initiative will work under the aegis of Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, and will have a separate governing board. It will be headquartered in New Delhi and will be headed by Justice A.S. Anand (Retired Chief Justice of India).
The initiative will focus on Delhi & NCR and Punjab initially and will gradually expand presence to cover the entire north India through smaller regional offices.
Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “Just because a poor individual cannot afford the services of a lawyer or cannot stump up a small amount for bail bond or surety, he or she should not be denied justice. We are making a small start with Nyaya Bharti and hope more people, in particular, from the legal fraternity and Corporate India will come forward to support this noble cause.”