Project 39A

What Project 39A does

Project 39A is a criminal justice research and litigation centre headquartered at National Law University, Delhi (Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi). Originally established in August 2014 as the Centre on the Death Penalty, the centre was rebranded and expanded in 2018 under its current name — drawn from Article 39A of the Indian Constitution, which mandates equal justice and free legal aid — to encompass forensics, legal aid, mental health, torture prevention, and capital punishment. The organisation provides pro bono legal representation to death row prisoners (574 tracked as of 2025) and undertrial prisoners, conducts empirical and interdisciplinary research (covering forensics, psychiatry, economics, anthropology, and social work), publishes annual death penalty statistics and annotated comparisons of India's new criminal statutes (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), and disseminates two interdisciplinary online courses on FutureLearn in collaboration with Eleos Justice at Monash University ('Decoding Forensics for Legal Professionals' and 'Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Justice'). It also runs a 4-12 week student internship programme and engages in policy advocacy, including consultancy to the Ministry of Home Affairs' Penal Law Reform Committee.

Project 39A operates as a non-profit university centre with 11-50 staff under the leadership of Patron-in-Chief Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai (Vice-Chancellor of NLU Delhi), Executive Director Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha (Supreme Court Advocate with Oxford and McGill credentials), and Honorary Director Dr. Pupul Dutta Prasad (IPS officer posted as IG, BPR&D). Its distribution channels include direct pro bono litigation before Indian courts, a global FutureLearn course catalogue, an active social media presence (X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube), and earned media coverage in outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, LiveLaw, Bar & Bench, and Legally India.

The centre's business model is institutional: it provides all legal services free of charge on a pro bono basis and is funded through its affiliation with NLU Delhi. No external funding rounds, equity investors, or revenue figures are disclosed. There are no patents, technology products, or commercial offerings; all work product is human-led scholarship, advocacy, and litigation. Co-published research partnerships (e.g., with Prayas at TISS Mumbai) and an ongoing advisory board reconstitution indicate organisational buildout rather than commercial scaling.

Name

Project 39A

Legal name

Project 39A, National Law University Delhi

Website

https://project39a.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Project 39A is a non-profit criminal justice research and litigation centre at National Law University, Delhi, providing pro bono legal representation to death row and undertrial prisoners, conducting empirical research on capital punishment, forensics, mental health, and torture, and offering interdisciplinary online courses on FutureLearn.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid & Criminal Justice Research

NAICS

Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922), Legal Counsel and Prosecution (922130), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (9221), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Parole Offices and Probation Offices (92215), Courts (92211)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Alternative Dispute Resolution & Restorative Justice Programs (BPAIAFAL), Victim Services & Witness Assistance (Justice System) (BPAIAFAJ)

Keywords

• Criminal justice research
• Pro bono legal aid
• Death penalty litigation
• Forensic legal advocacy
• Prison reform advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

New Delhi

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: Project 39A operates as a research and legal aid centre at National Law University Delhi, funded through institutional support. It provides all services free of charge on a pro bono basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Project 39A is a criminal justice research and litigation centre at National Law University, Delhi that provides pro bono legal representation to death row prisoners and undertrial prisoners across Indian courts. It conducts empirical and interdisciplinary research across five practice areas — Forensics, Legal Aid, Mental Health, Death Penalty, and Torture — and publishes annual statistics reports and annotated comparisons of India's new criminal laws. It also distributes two interdisciplinary online courses on FutureLearn developed with Eleos Justice at Monash University.

Product overview

Project 39A is a research and legal aid centre at National Law University Delhi offering a portfolio of online educational courses, empirical research publications, and direct legal services. The core offerings include two FutureLearn online courses (Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Justice; Decoding Forensics for Legal Professionals), pro bono litigation services for death row prisoners and undertrials across five practice areas (Forensics, Legal Aid, Mental Health, Death Penalty, Torture), and a range of publications including annual death penalty statistics reports and annotated comparisons of India's new criminal laws. The centre also operates a student internship programme. These offerings are interconnected through the centre's interdisciplinary approach, combining legal representation with empirical research to advance criminal justice reform in India.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Justice (Online Course) An interdisciplinary online course examining the interface between mental health, forensic science and India's criminal justice system, designed for lawyers, judges, and allied professionals.
• Decoding Forensics for Legal Professionals (Online Course) A practical online course on forensic science disciplines and their application in criminal trials, helping legal practitioners understand, challenge and use forensic evidence effectively.
• Death Penalty Research and Litigation Pro bono legal representation for death row prisoners across all levels of the judiciary, combined with comprehensive empirical and interdisciplinary research on capital punishment.
• Legal Aid Services Proactive litigation combining research and legal expertise to ensure effective legal representation for undertrial prisoners, particularly from marginalised sections of society.
• Forensic Science Research and Advocacy Research and advocacy to promote scientifically valid and reliable forensic evidence in criminal investigation and prosecution, addressing legislative gaps and infrastructural inadequacies.
• Mental Health and Criminal Justice Integration Bridging the gap between criminal law and mental health through rights-based approaches integrated into the criminal justice system at trial, sentencing, and rehabilitation stages.
• Torture Prevention and Accountability Advocacy and litigation addressing custodial torture in Indian prisons, facilitating access to justice for survivors and working toward legislative reform and perpetrator accountability.
• Annual Statistics Reports on Death Penalty in India Annual statistical reports providing comprehensive data on death penalty administration in India, including total death row population, offences, socio-economic profiles of prisoners, and appellate outcomes.
• Annotated Comparisons of New Criminal Laws Comparative legal analyses of India's new criminal justice statutes (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam) with their predecessor laws.

Quantifiable outcome

• 574 death row prisoners tracked and documented as of 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Eleos Justice, Monash UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject 39A collaborated with Eleos Justice at Monash University to develop and launch two interdisciplinary online courses on FutureLearn: 'Decoding Forensics for Legal Professionals' and 'Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Justice'. These courses examine the interface between mental health, forensic science, and India's criminal justice system for lawyers, judges, and allied professionals.
• National Law University DelhicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject 39A is a formal research and legal aid centre at National Law University Delhi, established under the university's institutional framework. NLU Delhi provides the institutional base, governance, and administrative support for Project 39A's operations.
• FutureLearncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFutureLearn serves as the online learning platform partner for distributing Project 39A's interdisciplinary courses on forensic science and criminal justice to a global audience of legal professionals, students, and criminal justice practitioners.
• Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Pupul Dutta Prasad, Honorary Director of Project 39A, is currently posted as Inspector General at BPR&D, a Government of India body. This connection facilitates institutional engagement with criminal justice reform and policing research.
• Prayas (TISS Mumbai)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject 39A co-published 'Legal Representation for Undertrials in Maharashtra (2018–2021)' with Prayas, a centre at Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai, indicating collaborative research partnership on legal aid issues.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Commission of Jurists: Global legal organization promoting human rights and rule of law through litigation, advocacy, and capacity building; broader geographic remit but overlapping criminal justice and rights-based litigation work.
• Human Rights Watch (India Division): International human rights organization conducting research and advocacy on India's criminal justice, death penalty, and torture issues; comparable focus areas but operates at global scale rather than on direct legal representation.
• Amnesty International India: International rights organization running campaigns on death penalty abolition, torture, and fair trial rights in India; broadly comparable advocacy-and-research mandate but at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Centre for Law and Policy Research: Bangalore-based legal research and policy organization working on access to justice, gender justice, and criminal justice reform; comparable academic-affiliated legal aid and research model in India.
• Reprieve: International NGO providing pro bono legal representation to death row prisoners and conducting empirical research on capital punishment; closest international functional peer to Project 39A's death penalty mandate.
• Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative: India-based nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform, prison conditions, and access to justice; operates overlapping programmes on undertrial prisoners and custodial justice that directly parallel Project 39A's mandate.
• India Justice Report: Collaborative initiative producing empirical research and rankings on the Indian justice system's four pillars (police, prisons, judiciary, legal aid); shares Project 39A's data-driven approach to criminal justice reform.
• Alternative Law Forum: India-based legal aid and research collective providing pro bono representation to marginalized prisoners; operates in a similar pro bono litigation plus research space as Project 39A.

Regional players

• National Law University Delhi (Centre for Disability Studies & other centres): Sister academic centres at NLU Delhi conducting interdisciplinary legal research and policy advocacy; share parent institution with Project 39A and operate a similar research-plus-advocacy model.

Others

• Eleos Justice (Monash University): Academic research centre at Monash University studying the death penalty and forensic evidence; existing partner of Project 39A on FutureLearn courses and a comparable interdisciplinary criminal justice research actor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/P39A_nlud
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Project39A-NLUD
• Facebookfacebook.com/people/Project-39A/61590471627274
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project39a
• Instagraminstagram.com/project39a

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Project 39A