Sanjay R Hegde was born in Manipal. His father was a lawyer practicing at the Bombay High Court. 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.[5]
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.[7][8][9]
He has represented several people who were declared foreigners in the NRC case[10][11]
He writes frequently in major Indian newspapers[12] and magazines and appears as a legal expert on news channels.[13]
Case Against Twitter
On 27 October 2019, Hegde's Twitter account was suspended for posting an anti-authoritarian image.[14] He filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the suspension of his account by Twitter.[15][16] In its filing before the HC, Government of India has contended that suspension of Hegde's account by Twitter violates law on free speech.[17] Earlier, Government had said that it has nothing to do with Sanjay Hegde's account suspension.[18]
In Jan 2023, his Twitter suspension was revoked and his account was restored. He continues to use the same image on his profile, which led to the suspension. [19]