My fight has no political colour: Santosh Hegde

His is a sporting spirit, and he has long learned to bear defeat with grace. As a young man, he gave up studies in medicine to take up a course in law, just so he would have the time to play his favourite game, hockey. Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, who tendered his resignation on Wednesday, represented his college and Mysore state in hockey for two years (1958-60). Did his team ever win a memorable laurel? “No. And, that is where the lessons of defeat helped me,” Hegde winked, as he engaged in a free-wheeling conversation with DNA. He would continue his fight against corruption, whether or not he held authority, he said. “I don’t need a crutch to fight corruption. I have the support of the common man.”
 
How does it feel, one day after the resignation?
Fine. A great many people called up to congratulate me on the principled stance, which they say is rare these days. Former Supreme Court chief justices VN Khare and JS Verma were among those who called to congratulate me. And all this is thanks to the hyper-coverage the resignation got in the media.
 
Opposition parties blame the BJP government and chief minister BS Yeddyurappa for your leaving the office in bitterness. Would you like to react to that?
My fight is one for principles, for justice and propriety. My fight is against rampant corruption among power-wielders. I am as close to or as distant to Yeddyurappa as I am to Kumaraswamy. So how could anyone see a political colour to my stance? I was made advocate-general by Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Dal. I was appointed additional solicitor-general by the VP Singh government. I was the chairperson of the Telecom Disputes Settlement Tribunal when the UPA government was in power. I don’t subscribe to any political party, because they all belong to the same school.
 
There is talk that you might join a major trust?
It’s true that I’ve been invited to join some places, but I am not going to head or manage any organisation. Quite a few organisations fighting corruption have urged me to join their platform. I said I will lend my support to those fighting corruption, sure. But I will not join any platform. That will constrain my freedom of speech and action.

Will you be writing a book on your Lokayukta days?
That’s a thought. After all, the media and publication are the redeeming features of our democracy. If what I fought for is buried unknown, my whole effort would have gone waste. I will surely consider penning my experience.
 
What has been your most glorious moment as Lokayukta?
The day I could help a six-month-old baby, Shilpa, who was born without bowels. The parents came weeping, saying the hospital was demanding Rs20,000 for the corrective surgery. And that was more money than they had seen in their whole life. I got the baby admitted to Manipal Hospital and she was treated at a minimal cost. She is now fairly healthy and chirpy. (Hegde’s secretary, Syed Riyadh, said that on an average, nearly 60 people approached the Lokayukta personally each day; he received at least three times as many requests for help over email or phone each day.)
 
And what would you remember as your worst moment?
There were many of those! When honest police officers and my men are hauled over burning coals, as the expression goes; when poor and powerless people get kicked around by the powerful; when justice is clearly denied, and I realise it is sometimes denied to the most deserving.
 
What do you think is the solution to the widespread feeling of
helplessness?
I believe that we need to invest more in the youth. I have visited 158 educational institutions in recent years. If there is any hope for change, then it is to youth that we must turn, for they seem to want change. I foresee that we can expect sea changes in 10-15 years, with some effort. One thing I am surely going to do is visit educational institutions and exchange my views with as many young people as possible.
 
Is there any other immediate solution to address the feeling of helplessness?
No. If you are alluding to a revolution or uprising, I don’t think that will help. In any such revolution, it is the poor who get hurt, not the rich.