Mangalore: K S Hegde should have been President: Advani

Pics: Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

MANGALORE, Jun 17: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani has said that the late K.S. Hegde, former judge of the Supreme Court, should perhaps have become the Head of State in 1977 when the Janata Party came to power.

Advani was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the launch of the birth centenary celebrations of Hegde, a former Lok Sabha Speaker, on Monday.

He pointed out that he had proposed Hegde’s candidature to the post to the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai. “Eventually Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy became President. But Hegde’s name struck me almost instantaneously,” he said.

Recalling the events leading up to the declaration of Emergency, Mr. Advani said that the controversial occasion when Hegde was superseded was one of the most unfortunate episodes in the story of the Indian judiciary.

It may be recalled that on April 25, 1973 the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, superseded three senior Supreme Court judges — J.M. Shelat, A.N. Grover and K.S. Hegde— and appointed A.N. Ray as Chief Justice of India. Hegde resigned in protest and returned to his native village Nitte in Udupi district.

“My association with Hegde started under these troubled circumstances. He had a profound influence on me,”  Advani said.

While lamenting the fact that the judiciary was not always free, fair and impartial, the former Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee said that judges such as Hegde were on the brink of extinction. “There is no greater threat to democracy than a pliant judiciary,” he said.

Pointing out that his reasoning was inscrutable, Sorabjee said that the more important quality that Hegde possessed was his commitment to upholding a citizen’s fundamental rights. “He was not a narrow-minded lawyer and did not turn into a narrow-minded judge,” he said.

Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Y.V. Chandrachud was also effusive in his praise for his former colleague with whom he had famous differences of professional opinion. He revealed that during one particular disagreement over a judgement, Hegde had revised the draft of the judgement six times to convince him.

“For a man of his seniority to do this for a much junior person like me was an overwhelmingly humble gesture,” he said while adding that Hegde was a believer in the constitutional doctrine of equality. “He was kind to his juniors and was never overawed by his seniors. He treated everybody equally,” he recalled.

He also chose Meenakshi Hegde, wife of Hegde, for special mention. He said that she played a great role in his life. “She is one of the most gracious ladies I have met. My wife and I have often enjoyed her hospitality,” he added.