Sanjay R Hegde (born 19 July 1965) is a senior advocate at the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. He is a leading voice for civil rights He was one of the two

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

appointed by the Supreme Court of India to assist the court in the

2012 Delhi gang rape and murder The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved the gang rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi district, South Delhi. The incident took place whe ...

. He was appointed as an interlocutor by the

to talk to the protestors at Shaheen Bagh protest.

Early life and education

Sanjay R Hegde was born in

Manipal 300px, The house of T. M. A. Pai located in Manipal; it has since been converted to a museum. Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi C ...

. His father was a lawyer practicing at the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

. After completing his class I in Manipal he moved to Mumbai where he studied till class X. After class X, he spent five years in Manipal and completed his B.Com, before moving to Mumbai to study law at KC Law College. He got selected in the UPSC Civil Service Aptitude Test for allied

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

s. He had been a debater and a quizzer during his college days.

Legal career

He started his career as a lawyer in 1989, working at M/s Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe Solicitors. He moved to Delhi to work in the chamber of Senior Advocate G. Ramaswamy, a former

Attorney-General for India The Attorney General for India is the chief legal advisor of the Government of India. The Attorney General is appointed by the President of India at the instance of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and hold office durin ...

. He has represented several people who were declared foreigners in the NRC case He writes frequently in major Indian newspapers and magazines and appears as a legal expert on news channels.

Case Against Twitter

On 27 October 2019, Hegde's

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account was suspended for posting an anti-authoritarian image. He filed a petition in the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...

against the suspension of his account by Twitter. In its filing before the HC, Government of India has contended that suspension of Hegde's account by Twitter violates law on free speech. Earlier, Government had said that it has nothing to do with Sanjay Hegde's account suspension.
In Jan 2023, his

suspension was revoked and his account was restored. He continues to use the same image on his profile, which led to the suspension. https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/twitter-revokes-suspension-of-senior-advocate-sanjay-hegdes-account-218585#:~:text=Twitter%20has%20restored%20the%20account,had%20slightly%20over%2090%2C000%20followers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegde, Sanjay People from Karnataka Living people 1965 births Indian Administrative Service officers Supreme Court of India lawyers