The topic of greed is something that can leave an otherwise relaxed Justice Santosh Hegde almost exasperated. Be it the scale of illegal mining in Bellary that the former Karnataka Lokayukta exposed or the government?s initial apathy towards the Jan Lokpal Bill?Hegde sees ?greed over need? as the disease that needs curing. Hegde?s illegal mining report has had an impact already with the resignation of Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and the recent arrest of mining magnate G Janardhana Reddy. But the stint as Karnataka Lokayukta, coming at the tail end of his 45-year career in law, has also left Hegde more of a cynic.

?We have become heartless people. We have lost that basic quality called humanitarian consideration,? says Hegde, now among India?s most visible anti-graft crusaders.

Talk about his other crusade, the Lokpal Bill, and he says, ?I accepted Anna as a leader because he ignited the fuel that was in most Indians? hearts and which no one had ignited so far. Consequently, it spread like wildfire. I know Anna?s shortcomings, but he is not aspiring for any office,? adding, ?This is the first time in my life I am coming to the streets and getting into a demonstration. I never did this as a student or as a lawyer,? he says.

But Hegde has also been known to hold his own view, especially when Anna Hazare?s team insisted that only the Jan Lokpal Bill be passed and the fast prolonged. ?I told Anna you can?t do this,? he says. ?He is against corruption, I am against corruption. Therefore, his supporters may think many things, they may have their own agenda, but I have no agenda myself.?

However, Hegde is in agreement with Anna?s next stated goal of demanding electoral reforms and suggests that voting be made mandatory and election expenditure be met by the Election Commission, besides incorporation of the right to recall representatives. ?It?s happening in a few countries around the world, so why can?t we explore this in India?? he asks.

Hegde?s involvement with the Lokpal Bill agitation began when he was invited to a discussion on the 2010 bill of the government by RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, where the idea of drafting a bill and interacting with the government came up. He says it was Kejriwal?s suggestion that they involve Anna Hazare. Subsequently, as a member of the Lokpal Bill?s joint drafting committee in April, Hegde brought with him the experience of fighting corruption in Karnataka, whose Lokayukta has been recognised as among India?s most active vigilance agencies, besides years of experience as an advocate and a judge.

Yet, Hegde says his entry into a career in law was by accident. In the early 1960s he had enrolled for a course in medicine in Bangalore, like his mother wanted him to, but still harboured a desire to play professional-level hockey, having captained college teams since school and represented Mysore state in tournaments. He says he even had an offer to play in Calcutta.

But two months into the course, Hegde looked for a change and got admission in Government Law College, Bangalore, much to the approval of his father, KS Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge and Lok Sabha speaker. Santosh Hegde, who hails from Nitte in Karnataka?s coastal Dakshina Kannada district, was the third of six children. His father was one of the few to go from the Rajya Sabha to a high court judge. He was also the first chief justice of the Delhi High Court and had resigned subsequently from the Supreme Court when he was superceded for the post of chief justice. In 1977, the senior Hegde won the Lok Sabha election on a Janata Party ticket from Bangalore south, and was elected as speaker. So Santosh Hegde did not have to look anywhere else for legal expertise and guidance.

Hegde says it was during the Emergency when a judge asked him to represent some people detained in Bangalore and Bellary jails that he first met AB Vajpayee, LK Advani and Ramakrishna Hegde. It was during the latter?s Janata Party government in Karnataka in 1984 that Hegde was appointed the state?s advocate general. Last year, when Hegde resigned abruptly as Lokayukta?a decision triggered by the government?s suspension of his officer investigating the state?s biggest haul of illegally mined iron ore at Belekeri port?it was on a request from Advani that he agreed to withdraw the resignation. In the year since then, Hegde?s investigation has gone into lakhs of records to expose illegal mining in Bellary and has pointed to the role the Reddy brothers played in creating a system for transporting ore from the district, a system he calls a ?single window for corruption?.

?It started because their greed had no limitation,? says Hegde. ?They knew this entire mining trend will undergo a tremendous change and they will not get as much money or income as they were getting. So they wanted to do it as quickly as possible.? Hegde says his investigators went into nearly 40 lakh bank accounts to link up the flow of money. It was found that permits were held by people who did not have the remotest of connection to the business. ?If you go and see the raising contractor, he is working as an employee in a kirana shop,? says Hegde, adding that deposits of as much as R10 crore in one go were done through accounts belonging to such people.

Hegde?s report has recommended inquiries not just into companies and government officials, but also the role of banks that allowed such transactions. Besides, he has also named politicians across political parties.

?I was never for any political party. It was also till I came here (Lokayukta institution) that I was accepted by every political party. My judgments were never in favour of any political party,? he says, adding that each of his appointments, including that of solicitor general, chairperson of the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal and Karnataka Lokayukta, were during different governments headed by different parties

?Today, every political party is against me. Veerappa Moily, Digvijay Singh, Janardhan Poojary all have abused me…the BJP president says I am the opposition leader of Karnataka…the JD (S) man says ?I know his entire night life?.? The exchange of words between former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and Hegde amid the Anna agitation had ended last week with JD (S) party leaders apologising to Hegde.

Hegde?s brief stint as additional solicitor general in 1989 saw him move to Delhi, a city he would eventually live for the next 17 years. Keen travellers, Hegde and his wife Sharda journeyed to many parts of the globe during the early Nineties when he had a busy private practice. In 1998, he was appointed solicitor general and a year later, invited to be a judge in the apex court.

It?s perhaps because of the heavy legalese that marked his profession that comics are Hegde?s favourite leisure reading. Currently, he?s looking forward to diving into a box of Asterix comics that his niece has sent him.

Still, he?s not missing out any chances to connect to students. Over the past five years, Hegde has lectured at over 265 colleges and still gets invitations regularly. ?I remember my elders saying when I was ten years old that in my district if you want to count the corrupt, five fingers are enough. I say the same thing in my lectures to students, but to count the honest. That is the growth of corruption.?

Hegde says he has only one mantra. ?Try and understand the true meaning of satisfaction. There is nothing wrong in becoming rich legitimately. But don?t allow your ambition to become an obsession.?

Hegde?s illegal mining report is the single biggest task he undertook during his tenure when nearly 1,500-odd corruption cases were taken up by the Lokayukta institution, but he doesn?t think he has done anything beyond his job. ?See, I have not done anything extraordinary. But I think that itself now stands out because others are not doing even that.?