Project 39A is the criminal justice research and litigation centre at National Law University Delhi. It works at the intersection of research and litigation on the criminal justice system, with a specific focus on death penalty research and litigation, legal aid and the facilitation of access to justice. The centre takes its name from Article 39-A of the Constitution of India.

National Law University Delhi is a National Law University based at Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi. The course is delivered through the University's online admissions and learning portal.

About the course

Project 39A is organising a two-month online certificate course on all aspects of the death penalty as it relates to theory and practice, titled Capital Punishment in India: Law, Practice and Justice. The course runs from 12 September 2026 to 1 November 2026.

The death sentence is the most severe and irreversible form of punishment and has undergone significant developments, particularly with the enactment of the new criminal law codes. Structured, practice-oriented training on the subject, however, remains largely unexplored. The course takes participants through the theoretical, constitutional, procedural, forensic, comparative and reform dimensions of capital punishment, drawing on Project 39A's own expertise alongside wider scholarship and jurisprudence.

The aim is to give participants a comprehensive understanding of capital punishment in India together with the doctrinal knowledge and practical skills needed for advisory, litigation, research and policy work in the field.

Who should enrol

The course is designed for:

Students of undergraduate and postgraduate courses
Forensic science students
Legal practitioners and professionals
Academics and researchers
Anyone with a strong interest in the criminal justice system

Course structure at a glance

Duration: 8 weeks, 4 hours per week, 32 hours in total (2 hours per lecture)
Dates: 12 September 2026 to 1 November 2026
Schedule: Weekends, Saturday and Sunday
Timings: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST for lectures by Indian speakers; 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM IST for lectures by international speakers
Special session: Lecture 5 has been scheduled on Monday, 21 September 2026 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM IST, to accommodate the availability of a distinguished speaker
Speaker model: One speaker per lecture
Recordings: Accessible for 3 months
Attendance: A minimum of 75 per cent is mandatory
Concluding session: The course closes with a hybrid session delivered by the Executive Director, Project 39A. Participants may attend either online or in person at the NLU Delhi campus in Dwarka, Delhi

Lectures and speakers

The course brings together senior advocates, forensic experts, a former High Court judge and academics from India and abroad. The announced schedule is:

12.09.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Prof. (Dr.) GS Bajpai, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi: Penological Justifications for Capital Punishment
13.09.2026 (Sunday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Saurabh Kirpal, Senior Advocate: How India Inherited and Retained Capital Punishment
19.09.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Dr. Seema Kaul Singh, Director, The Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies: The Constitutional and Judicial Architecture of Capital Punishment in India
20.09.2026 (Sunday), 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM IST - Dr. Shailesh Kumar, Royal Holloway, University of London: Who is on Death Row in India?
21.09.2026 (Monday), 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM IST - Dr. Siddharth Luthra, Senior Advocate: Death Penalty Trials and Sentencing, Inside the Courtroom
27.09.2026 (Sunday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, Senior Advocate: The Appellate Journey, the Mercy Petition and the Last Recourse
03.10.2026 (Saturday) and 04.10.2026 (Sunday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Dr. G K Goswami, Founder Director, Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Sciences: Traditional Evidence vs Forensic Evidence and the Risk of Getting it Wrong, and From Scene to Swab, Crime Scene Investigation and DNA Profiling
10.10.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Sanjiv Sen, Senior Advocate: The Forensic Expert in the Witness Box, Admissibility and the Evidentiary Weight
11.10.2026 (Sunday), 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM IST - Prof. Dr. Anneke Petzsche, University of Bremen, Germany: The Abolitionist Norm, A Comparative Study
17.10.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Kapil Sankhla, Managing Partner, Sankhla & Associates: The Case for Retention, A Comparative Perspective
18.10.2026 (Sunday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Dr. Pupul Dutta Prasad, Inspector General of Police, BPR&D and Honorary Director, Project 39A: Capital Punishment and the Global South
24.10.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Senior Advocate: Penal Populism, Media and the Manufacture of Public Demand
25.10.2026 (Sunday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Justice J.R. Midha, Former Judge, Delhi High Court: The Weight of the Decision, Sentencing in Capital Cases
31.10.2026 (Saturday), 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM IST - Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Executive Director, Project 39A: Beyond the Death Penalty, Reform and Sentencing Alternatives

The organisers note that speakers may change in the event of exigent circumstances.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, participants are expected to:

Build a working understanding of the trial of a capital case and of appellate procedure in the context of the new criminal law codes
Critically engage with the empirical realities of death sentencing in India
Develop an understanding of the theoretical, historical and constitutional foundations of capital punishment in India
Explore the relevance of forensic evidence and forensic expert opinion in capital cases
Engage critically with emerging global trends surrounding capital punishment, with a special focus on the Global South
Analyse the jurisprudence of sentencing doctrine in India in capital cases
Understand the role played by media and penal populism in shaping public perception of capital punishment
Gain insight into alternatives to capital punishment and proposals to reform death sentencing in India

Certification and assessment

A certificate is awarded on successful completion of all components of the course, including an online assessment examination to be held on 1 November 2026. A minimum attendance of 75 per cent is mandatory.

Fee and registration window

The course fee is Rs 10,000 for all participants. The full course fee must be paid at the time of registration, and the fee once paid is non-refundable.

Registrations opened on 12 August 2026 and close on 10 September 2026.

How to apply

Applications are made through the National Law University Delhi online admissions portal at https://odl.nludelhi.ac.in/register2.0.html. Project 39A has published a step-by-step registration guide, summarised below:

Create an account on the portal, selecting Individual or Company/Sponsor and entering your name, mobile number and email address. Login credentials are emailed to you
Log in with the emailed credentials and set a new password on first login
From the Dashboard, click ADMISSION to reach the course applications page
Under Select the Course, choose Capital Punishment in India: Law, Practice and Justice 2026 and click APPLY
Complete the Modify Application Details form. You may SAVE AS DRAFT and return later, or SUBMIT APPLICATION FORM once the details are final
Once submitted, an Application Number is generated. Click MAKE PAYMENT, review the fee summary and complete payment on the secure gateway

Registration is complete once the payment is successfully processed and a confirmation is received. For help with registration, write to p39a@nludelhi.ac.in or call 8130846006.