Kowdoor Sadananda Hegde (11 June 1909 – 24 May 1990) was an Indian jurist and politician who served as a judge in the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
and later as the
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
The speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general el ...
.
Hegde founded the Nitte Education Trust. He is the father of
Santhosh Hegde
Nitte Santosh Hegde (born 16 June 1940) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, former Solicitor General of India and was Lokayukta ( ombudsman) for Karnataka State of India from 2006 to 2011.
Early life
Santosh Hegde was born in a T ...
, who also served as a judge in the Supreme Court of India.
Political career
Hegde served as a public prosecutor from 1947 to 1951. In 1952, he was elected to the
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
, a position which he held until 1957. In 1967, Hegde was appointed a judge in the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
. On 30 April 1973, he tendered his resignation, as a matter of principle, when one of his junior colleagues was appointed the Chief Justice of India.
Thereafter, Hegde once again started taking an active part in socio-political movements. In 1977, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the
Bangalore South
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
constituency on a Janata Party ticket. Several months later, he became Speaker after the resignation of his predecessor,
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence ...
. He held the position from 1977 to 1980. Lal Krishna Advani had suggested Hegde's name for Presidentship but Sanjiva Reddy got the nod, and Hegde replaced Reddy as Lok Sabha speaker. Hegde retired from electoral politics after Lok Sabha was dissolved in 1979. He joined BJP when it was founded in 1980 and briefly served as its vice-president. He also established the Nitte Education Trust in 1979 to provide a high school to the village of Nitte. Hegde died on 24 May 1990 at his residence in
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
, and left behind his wife Meenakshi and six children, three sons and three daughters.
Legacy
As a judge of the Supreme Court of India, his lordship was also a part of the thirteen judge bench which decided the famous
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala
Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru & Ors. v. State of Kerala & Anr. (Writ Petition (Civil) 135 of 1970), also known as the Kesavananda Bharati judgement, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that outlined the basic structure doc ...
. However, he resigned soon after delivering the majority judgment, as Justice
A. N. Ray
Ajit Nath Ray (29 January 1912 – 25 December 2009) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from 25 April 1973 till his retirement on 28 January 1977.
Ray was the lone dissenter among the eleven Supreme Court judges that examine ...
was appointed the
Chief Justice of India
The chief justice of India (IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation w ...
, although Hegde was senior judge at the time. In an obituary of Hegde, Justice
M. M. Ismail
M. M. Ismail (8 February 1921 – 17 January 2005) was an Indian politician who served as the acting Governor of Tamil Nadu and a Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.iche heard the news over the all India Radio that he and two senior colleagues of his had been superseded in the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."
The K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, a medical college in
Deralakatte
Deralakatte is a major educational, healthcare, commercial & residential locality in the south-eastern part of Mangalore city in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. It is away from the Karnataka-Kerala state border. It is popularly ...
and a unit of the Nitte Education Trust, was named after Hegde. The Justice KS Hegde Charitable Foundation, a trust dedicated to the advancement of education and community development in
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
, was established in memory of Hegde. Each year, the foundation awards the Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation Awards; previous winners include former Indian prime minister
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...