An 'upright' killer vs brutal murderer

Somewhat erroneously, the Neeraj Grover case is being compared to the 1959 Prem Ahuja/Nanavati murder case. But the two cases could not have been more diametrically opposite. Cut out the superficial similarities of both the killers being Naval officers and that in both cases someone connected to the wife/fiancee was done to death in a fit of rage, there is nothing more to suggest that anything else was similar. Meenakshi Rao recalls the Nanavati case which was a watershed in the genre of crime of passion cases

If Emile Jerome Mathew’s act of murder is all about cruelty, brutality and inhumanness, Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati's was about romance, rage and propriety. Or, at least, it was perceived as such. Hence Nanavati, despite murdering ritzy playboy and serial womaniser Prem Ahuja, garnered so much public support that there was hardly anyone, except of course the victim's sister Mamie Ahuja, who sought life or death for the much celebrated naval officer, or for that matter his adulteress English wife Sylvia.

Nanavati, a handsome six-foot, upright Parsi boy, during his days in Portsmouth, England, fell for the blue-eyed ethereal English beauty of Sylvia who was no less than any Hollywood actress thanks to her delicate looks. He proposed and she agreed and then the two flew to Mumbai for their life ahead.

Only as Sylvia slowly discovered, over the years that bore this couple three children, that long lonely days and nights were getting to her. The always attentive Nanavati, who had a great social circle of the high and mighty while he was in Mumbai, had to serve long months overseas too — a situation which rendered Sylvia not just lonely but also vulnerable to the machinations of people like Prem Ahuja, Nanavati’s long-time friend who also happened to enjoy the reputation of being a woman killer with his riches and playboy instincts.

Women like Sylvia were fodder for him and it took only some months of togetherness to start off an illicit relationship. Sylvia, of course, was looking for a divorce with Nanavati and a marriage with Ahuja, both of which were never to happen.

Being constantly fobbed off by Ahuja, Sylvia one night confessed to her husband that she had fallen for his best friend. After an outburst, Nanavati showed extreme calm and took the children and the family to a movie the next day, only to drop them there and return to the Naval headquarters to requisition his pistol under false pretences. He then walked into Ahuja’s bedroom and saw him coming out of the bathroom in a towel. He confronted him with the inevitable: "Will you marry Sylvia and take care of my children?" Ahuja, the serial offender he was, said: "No. Am I supposed to marry every woman I go to bed with?" An enraged Nanavati shot him thrice, walked out and went straight to his senior to confess to his crime. He surrendered the weapon and was finally arrested by the DCP, Crime.

The case evoked nationwide sympathy for Nanavati who also had high political connections and even the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sympathised with his plight. The then Governor of Maharashtra, Vijaylakshmi Pandit was the one to grant him pardon finally.

The case caught so much public imagination that Nanavati revolvers became the bestseller toys and Ahuja towels made a killing with their nomenclature. Not just that, girls in hundreds would throng the court and yell for his hand in marriage and death for Sylvia.

Amazingly, all through this, Sylvia stood by her husband and so did he. Under intense public scrutiny, a jury held him not guilty 8-1. However, Mamie Ahuja appealed in the High Court which ultimately gave him a life term for murder, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the twists were not done yet. After three years in jail, Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati was pardoned. He went back to Sylvia and the family emigrated to Canada where they lived a long life together.

Nanavati died at the ripe old age of 76 in 2003 while Sylvia who remained true to him all through after Ahuja, is still alive and stays with her children. No one, not even Nanavati, was ever willing to entertain queries regarding the case and preferred to live in anonymity. Hindustan Times once carried a photocopy of a letter purportedly written by Nanavati when he was 75, requesting the reporter to not pursue him for a recall. The letter said: “Dear Mr Sharma, I refer to your letter of November 1, received yesterday. To you, Mr Sharma, my case may be a story of some interest. To me, what happened was a sorry part of my life which I wish to forget. So, I am sure you will understand, that I do not wish to discuss this matter at all, Thanks, (signed) Kawas Nanavati.”

As opposed to Jerome who can’t be forgiven by the public ever because of his inhuman act of cutting up the body and burning it with meticulousness, Nanavati is long remembered as the man of high values and uprightness due to his calm surrender and acceptance of the murder.

Dramatis personae

The Nanavati case was a watershed in the history of crime of passion cases in India. Many big things happened, many men made their names in law and many a Bollywood movie was triggered by this unfortunate incident. Here are the dramatis personae

Ram Jethmalani: He was a rookie lawyer back then, trying to find his feet in the field of law. In fact, he was helping the prosecution nail Nanavati and used to regularly advise Mamie Ahuja, the victim's sister. It was only when the pardon proceedings for Nanavati gained ground with Guv Vijaylakshmi Pandit expressing her desire to grant pardon to him, that Jethmalani's services were sought to persuade Mamie to give in writing that she had forgiven Nanavati and would not object to his release. Jethmalani managed to convince her and she submitted in writing that she had no objections to Nanavati's release.

Communal strife: For all practical purposes, it became a nationwide Parsi vs Sindhi conflict - Nanavati being a Parsi and Ahuja a successful Sindhi businessman. The community sentiment ran so high that even Pandit thought it would unleash a kind of civil war if Nanavati was released solo. So a Sindhi offender Bhai Pratap, a freedom fighter dabbling in imports, should also be pardoned. His crime was possession of weapons from Pakistan in the post-Partition days. In a way, Bhai Pratap got lucky, because his case got tagged to Nanavati's release, and the two were granted pardon simultaneously. While Nanavati received backing of the Parsi Panchayat and had a Parsi lawyer Karl Khandavala fighting his case, the Sindhi community backed Mamie Ahuja and Ram Jethmalani, a Sindhi, assisted the prosecution.

Bollywood movies: As many as two big venture Bollywood films were made on the Nanavati case but it was only the 1973 one titled Achanak, starring Vinod Khanna, that became a box office hit. Gulzar earned the best director Filmfare award for it and K A Abbas bagged the award for best story. The film had no song in it which was quite unusual. Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke, the earlier film, was a box office disaster.

Justice YV Chandrachud: He was the judge who held all through that Nanavati was guilty of murder and ruled so. His reputation of iron man of the judiciary came from his role in the Nanavati case. The jury overturned his ruling which was, however, later upheld in the Bombay High Court. Chandrachud has gone on record saying this was the case that gave him stature in the legal community. He retired as the Chief Justice of India. He died in 2008.

Jury system abolished: This was the case which finally abolished the jury system in India with popular sentiment being that the jury could be influenced by emotions running high in society. The jury had ruled not guilty for Nanavati even though the charge against him sought life term.

R K Karanjia & BlitzThe Editor of Blitz was the man behind garnering public opinion for Nanavati and his relentless three-year campaign, portraying Nanavati as a celebrated officer and a wronged husband with utmost sense of propriety, Karanjia never let the story go off the front page for three long years. The copy of Blitz, reportedly sold for `2 in black daily as opposed to the published price of 25 paise! 



Source: Sunday Pioneer,  July 10, 2011

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