Bharti Enterprises creates fund to help undertrials, Sunil Mittal to take voluntary pay cut for this cause

In a new program launched by Sunil Bharti Mittal-driven Bharti Enterprises, the company will provide legal assistance, awareness and literacy to underprivileged undertrials across the country through its arm, Nyaya Bharti.

Bharti group's telecom business Airtel will contribute Rs 10 crore annually on an ongoing basis while Sunil Bharti Mittal to take a voluntary cut of Rs 5 crores from his annual salary towards this cause, the company said in a statement.

The company has roped in justice AS Anand, former Chief Justice of India, Harish N Salve, Former Solicitor General of India and Maninder Singh, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court of India, among others as board members.

'Nyaya Bharti' aims to help the deserving undertrials 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.

It is estimated that there are more than 280,000 undertrials in nearly 1387 jails in India constituting nearly 68% of the total prisoner population. This proportion, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), is amongst the world's ten worst.

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 and It will be headquartered in New Delhi.

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.

"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," chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Mittal said.

Since 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, added Mittal.