STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Despite not studying the regular course of Social Work, I have always been a student &
volunteer of Society and rigorously worked for its cause.

This Project39 A draws its inspiration from Article 39A which provides for free legal aid to
the poorer sections of the society. So it can be rightly said to be a project for the cause of
society and humanity which I always strive to be a part of.

I had attended the 1st Annual Lecture on Criminal Law organised by the Project 39A and
NLUD back in September 2018. There I got some reading materials on this project explaining
everything through reliable statistics and various findings. These reading materials triggered
my interest about death penalty and Criminal Justice system and I also started developing
some sort of different and now better way of looking at Capital punishment.

I am of the opinion that Criminal Justice system should be pro accused and the principle of
“ei incumbit probation qui dicit, non qui negat” should be followed with necessary
adherence. Every trial should be fair and carried out with due process. This is because the
Criminal justice system is the instrument of State and the state machinery runs against the
accused to prosecute the crime. One side there is State with all its instruments and accused
on the other side. So the chances of State abusing its powers is very high. And with capital
punishment in the question, the responsibility of the state heightens. The basic hindrance in
our justice system is red tapism. Justice delayed is justice denied and in our country justice is
being denied on that count by unnecessary delays in the process. There is a dearth of judges
and the courts in the country. The Judge: case ratio is very poor. Fastrack courts are needed
for specific offences.

The Project 39A has continually been contributing to the Criminal Justice system by
triggering new conversations on legal aid, torture, DNA forensics, mental health in prisons,
and death penalty through its empirical research, analysis and diligent documentation.

As a law student, I find it my responsibility to contribute in the reformation of society and

conservation of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The realisation of the
values of equal and fair access to justice is imperative. Working for the project 39A would let
me do some service for the legal fraternity and also I am sure I’ll be learning a lot about the
intricacies of the Criminal Justice system.

To the best of my knowledge, I am a punctual and hard working student who can work in
groups as well as individually. Honesty in work is my mantra.

Again I see internship opportunity as a responsibility and an opportunity to learn. I am

genuinely interested in this project and I’ll be very happy if I get a chance to work for it.