Revisiting the Nanavati Case
The case has been talked about often, there have been a few
books, numerous articles, and no less than 3 movies as well as a TV series
based on the story. The latest book by Bachi Karkaria uncovers quite a few gaps
and makes it heady reading. Nevertheless, there could be a few who are still
looking for some finer details, and I intend to cover those today.
Nanavati’s Navy background & stay in the UK
Krishna Menon had returned to India and was working in the
Nehru cabinet, and by 1956, was appointed as the defense minister. During the late 50’s and early 60s, Menon
campaigned in Bombay and was elected as the Member of Parliament from Bombay.
The Parsis as well as the film fraternity joined hands and ensured that he won
with a thumping majority, so Menon was well known there.
A quick run-through of the case
Nanavati’s case is quite well known to Bombay's old timers
but is now only remembered by movie buffs and a few following the history of
the teeming city. After his INS Mysore stint, Kawas Nanavati got back home for
his routine furlough, and it became unhappily apparent to him that Sylvia was distant,
cool, and disinterested. Upon questioning her, Nanavati came to know that she
was in the middle of a hot affair with Prem Ahuja, an automobile dealer, a
person well known in the Malabar Hill circuit for his elan and his parties. Ahuja
was quite popular with women and when Nanavati understood that his wife was in
an amorous affair with him, seems to have lost his cool. After dropping his wife and children for a
film, Nanavati went to his ship, and signed out a revolver and 6 rounds, informing
the storekeeper that he was going on a road trip, or to shoot birds (according
to Jethmalani). He then proceeded to Ahuja’s office, but not finding him there,
to his home, where Nanavati accosted Ahuja in his bedroom, and a heated
argument ensued. It appears that Ahuja said he had no intention of marrying Sylvia
or taking care of Nanavati’s children when asked so point-blank by Nanavati, following
which a physical scuffle is said to have taken place. Memmi, Ahuja’s sister who
was sleeping through a migraine had heard the visitor coming in, and had seen
him proceeding to meet her brother, now heard three gunshots, the sound of a
body crashing on the floor, and rushed to see what was going on. She saw a
bleeding Ahuja, (two bullets had struck his chest and one his head) towel-clad,
on the floor, and a silent and calm Kawas standing over him with a 0.38 Smith
& Wesson in his hand.
Nanavati left quietly, then visited the Navy Provost Marshall MB Samuel, got directions to the police station, and going there, surrendered to CID Inspector John Lobo, stating that he had shot Ahuja. Sylvia was informed of the happenings at the theater where she and the children were watching ‘Tom Thumb’, and shocked, she shot up, screamed, and collapsed.
After parleying by the Naval brass and ‘higher ups’, it was
decided to place Kawas in Naval custody even though this was a civil case. Nanavati
was thus confined to the Naval detention quarters on shore, part of the INS
Kunjali complex at Colaba, also home to the fledgling naval aviation and
helicopter fleet. Here he cooled his heel for a few months, while outside, all
hell had broken loose. Meanwhile, Sylvia and Kawas had come back to terms and
decided to fight the upcoming case, together, as the family moved and settled
at Nanavati’s parents’ house.
Kunjali IV in whose name this complex had been built, would
have smiled wryly seeing all this, for it was all a far cry from the days when
his paroes played hide and seek and fought the Portuguese with flaming arrows
and guerilla tactics. The only fight he would soon see would be verbal
calisthenics in a courtroom, pitting naval folk and politicians against the
judicial system.
The Navy and the Parsis lined up behind Kawas, and Menon the
powerful Defense minister who had Nehru’s ears, pulled the strings. Karanjia,
who ran the tabloid Blitz, Menon’s steadfast supporter, ensured Bombay’ites
were kept up to date with explosive and salacious details, so written by RP
Aiyer.
The Navy wives felt he did right in shooting Ahuja but added
that he should then have shot Slyvia and committed suicide. While the vast
majority were on Nanavati’s side, the Sindhi community was quite hurt when
snide comments were made about them, by the Parsi-led media, as Ahuja was a
Sindhi. In any case, the air was thick with all kinds of rumors, and when the
case came up for trial in the sessions court, the Judge had a tough time
reigning in the ‘Tamasha’ as he termed it. A few Brits still hanging around in
Bombay, felt that it was a travesty to justice, and grumbled seeing Nanavati
coming to court, resplendent in Navy whites. They felt that in the Blighty,
Nanavati would have been found guilty and jailed for life.
The trial took place at the sessions court at Flora Fountain
in Sept 1959, and huge crowds gathered to witness it. The case pitted the posh and
well-settled Parsis against the Sindhis who were by now rising as equals to
them, in business. True, there was
competition between the two trading communities, but the feelings simmered and
bubbled when Parsis painted Sindhis as adulterers. The Gujaratis sided with the
Parsis as fellow Banias. Shouts of ‘Nanavati Zindabad’ rang in the air, as the
meticulously uniformed Nanavati walked in and out, his medals glistening in the
sun. Outside Ahuja towels “which won’t fall off’ and Nanavati toy pistols were
being sold by enterprising hawkers.
The defense plan by lead counsel Kandhalwala was to make it
clear that the navy and the defense ministry were squarely behind their man,
and that it was all an accident, that the gun had gone off during a scuffle. Khandalwala
was assisted by barrister Rajni Patel and SR Vakil. Public prosecutor CM
Trivedi was accompanied by Sindhi Ram Jethmalani, there as an observer, on
Mammie Ahuja’s request, while Judge RB Mehta presided. Nanavati pled ‘not
guilty’, and the defense argued a case of accidental death. During the
examination, Kawas admitted having surrendered but mentioned that he did not
shoot to kill and that it was all an accident. Chief of Naval Staff RD Katari
testified on Kawas’s impeccable character, while Dr. AV Baliga poked holes in
the testimony of the medical witness Dr Bhaganay. SM Nanda, who together with Nanavati
had just brought INS Mysore from Britain to India also testified in Kawas’s
career. Sylvia who was called to the stand mentioned that Ahuja had promised to
marry her and that he had a gun (which was the reason why Nanavati took out a
gun when he went to see him).
The jury verdict
A jury of 9, pondered over the results of examination and
cross-examination and decided 8-1 by the end Oct 1959, that Nanavati was ‘not
guilty’. The Sindhis were furious, seeing how the case was getting fixed,
murmuring that the jury had been bought. At this point, one should take note
that Jethmalani’s observation that it was simply impossible for a towel not to
fall off during a tussle, cast considerable doubt on Nanavati’s cooked-up ‘accident
story’ and the defense strategy. The agitated judge disagreed with the jury
verdict and ordered a review by the high court. Nanavati was sent back to INS Kunjali
for further detention.
Much to contrary belief, this was not the last jury case or
the case (many blamed Blitz) that stopped the use of the jury in India (I was
also under that impression until I read Jaffe’s paper). It had been a perineal problem,
due to the difficulty in obtaining qualified jurors. As Jaffe explains, Jury
trials survived well into the 1960s. Courts with original jurisdiction over
criminal cases, and several high courts continued to employ juries long after
the Nanavati trial, as did many sessions courts, especially in Bengal, but not
as often, until 1973. It was not until the passage of the Code of Criminal
Procedure 1973, that the jury was written out of the criminal trial in courts
of session by simply stating, "After hearing arguments and points of law
(if any), the Judge shall give a judgment in the case." It was thus by an
act of omission rather than an act of commission that trial by jury finally was
ended in sessions courts. The common juror, according to the judiciary, was
thought of as ‘wild’, ignorant, illiterate, and corruptible. That is, they were
‘not the right people’ to perform the juror’s role.
The high court case & the governor’s pardon
The case was heard again at the High Court, in Feb 1960,
where the state was represented by YV Chandrachud., with the defense led by ASR
Chari. Justices Shelat and Naik took apart the flimsy defense arguments and
pronounced Nanavati guilty of murder under sections 300 and 302, sentencing him
to undergo rigorous imprisonment, following which a warrant was issued for his
arrest. Within four hours however, Nanavati’s sentence was suspended by the
Maharashtra Governor Sri Prakasa (after discussions with the CM), under article
161, while Nanavati appealed to the Supreme Court. The case was discussed again
on appeal and Kawas continued his detention at INS Kunjali.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, the parliament was in uproar, and Nehru
as well as Menon had to field questions on why Nanavati was provided Rs
10,000/- government assistance, to fight the case. Nehru replied to heated
questions, stating that intervention was at the behest of Chief of Navy Staff
Katari. But it becomes clear that the person who threw all the weight behind
the order was none other than VK Krishna Menon who in an interview with Max
Lerner mentioned that he had talked to Sri Prakasa – telling him that the stain
of turpitude should not destroy the career of a promising young officer.
This was the first test for the Indian constitution and the
first time an Article 161 pardon was implemented. While the legal community was
aghast at the order, the public was jubilant. For Nanavati, the situation was
tricky because if found guilty, he could be dismissed from service per the
regulations, and lose many benefits. The unhappy judiciary decided to contest
the governor’s obstruction to justice, as they saw it. HM Seeravi appeared for
the state, while Nani Palkhiwala joined the defense. The constitution is
dissected and examined, together with the powers of the governor, and the logic
in confining Nanavati in a naval goal. After much deliberation, they decide
that the governor's order shall stand, leaving the legal community quite
unhappy.
Supreme Court it is
Nanavati’s team meanwhile filed a couple of special leave
petitions in the Supreme Court against the HC ruling. The Supreme Court taking
up the issue, objected to the Governor usurping the court’s rights. A majority
decision was reached and Nanavati’s requests were dismissed and he was asked to
appear and pray to the court for the return of the writ and warrant. Nanavati
during these periods was shuttled between INS Kunjali and the Arthur Road civil
prison. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court decided that Nanavati had without any
doubt, intentionally shot & killed Ahuja. They also threw out a possibility
of culpable homicide and confirmed life imprisonment for the defendant.
Blitz went on an overdrive, publishing mercy petitions from
Sylvia and their elder son Pheroze. As the uproar grew in Bombay, the children
were sent off to Lovedale in Ooty. At the Arthur Road jail, Nanavati was given
a special room, but was moved to the Yervada jail in Pune, developed chest
pains, and was treated at the JJ hospital. He was discharged from the Navy in
April 1962, and Nanavati applied for parole on health grounds. This was
granted, and he moved to a bungalow in Lonavla.
On 16th March 1964, Nanavati was pardoned by the
new Maharashtra governor and Nehru’s sister Vijayalakshmi (Nan) Pandit. Interestingly
Nan knew Nanavati for had succeeded Krishna Menon as HC in the UK and had taken
formal possession of the INS Mysore. This was made possible by the strangest of
possibilities, so let me stop here and take you through the story of another
individual, Bhai Pratap Dadlani.
Bhai Pratap and the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation
Bhai Pratap a good friend of the Indian freedom movement, a
personal friend of both Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, had decided to
resettle the Sindhis who had trudged to Bombay, after a painful partition. On
the 15,000 acres of land donated by the Raja or Kutch, he started the town projects
at Adipur, Khandla, and Gandhidham. In 1954, a fellow Sindhi accused Bhai of
wrongdoing and this started a witch hunt and a legal case which he lost, so
also the appeal that followed, after which he was jailed. He fell sick in jail
and struggled with multiple heart ailments.
According to the parliament Q&A, Bhai Pratap, the
Managing Director of the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd., was convicted of
offenses of conspiracy and cheating and/or abetment thereof under section 120-B
and section 420 read with section 109 of the Indian Penal Code for dishonestly
inducing the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports to issue three import licenses
on the plea that they were required by the Corporation for the development of
the Kandla Port and sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of
Rs. 4,000.
The case alleged disposing of in the black-market electric
goods worth several lacs of rupees obtained under an import license and
intended for use in the development of Gandhidham, which as you will read on, was
proved wrong. According to the transport minister, he was not lodged in jail
but remained as an in-patient in St. George Hospital, Bombay, till 13-12-1961
when he was released on parole.
The quid pro quo settlement
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Unfortunately, Bhai Partap was convicted and sentenced to
eighteen months of rigorous imprisonment. Despite having employed a prominent
lawyer, not only was his subsequent appeal rejected, but his sentence was also
increased to five years. Thanks to his political influence, he was able to
apply for a mercy petition to Mrs Vijayalakshmi Pandit, who had become governor
in 1962. Unlike most other such petitions, his (petition) was scrutinized
closely by two diligent secretaries, B.B. Paymaster, and R.L. Dalal, who
discovered that he had been unjustly convicted and was, in fact, innocent. The
public prosecutor had withheld from the court important information that proved
his innocence. He, therefore, deserved a pardon.
Around the same time, there was also pressure on the
government to grant a pardon to Nanavati, who had by then already served a few
years in prison. However, the government was aware that pardoning Nanavati
would antagonize the Sindhi community. One evening, there was a knock on the
door of Ram's apartment at Panchshila, and he was surprised to see Rajni Patel,
one of the defense lawyers in the Nanavati case and now a power broker of the
Congress Party, and the beautiful Sylvia outside his door. He was hard-pressed
to guess what the visit was about. Patel immediately came to the point and
explained that the government was prepared to pardon Bhai Partap and,
simultaneously, wished to do the same for Nanavati. But, before that, they
needed the concurrence of the Sindhi community. In this case, the one person
who mattered was Prem's sister Mamie whose concurrence would end all
controversy.
They were aware that Ram (as a prominent Sindhi, and
well-known to Mamie) alone could prevail upon Mamie. They told him that such
a joint pardon would be in the interest of both communities. Ram gave in and
convinced Mamie to give in writing the fact that she had no objection to
Nanavati's pardon.
Nanavati and Bhai Partap were pardoned on the same day, 16th March 1964.
Canada it is
A few months following the pardon, Nanavati and his family
obtained immigration to Canada, seemingly as an emotional refugee, and over
time became the Marketing director of Laurier Life Insurance, (some say backed
by JRD Tata’s recommendation). There was a large Parsi community in Toronto and
Nanavati blended in easily and seems to have done very well in his job. Nanavati,
as he admitted, chose to forget that sorry part of his life. They were
certainly not low profile and the Nanavatis did make a few visits to Bombay.
They moved to Burlington in retirement and Nanavati passed away in 2003, Sylvia
from what I last read had moved to an assisted living community.
It was such a volatile case and the first time the Indian
constitution was also put on trial, with so many luminaries involved. Ram
Jethmalani made his name from the case, Chandrachaud and others rose to become
chief justices of the Supreme Court, Sri Prakasa, YB Chavan, Rajni Patel,
Acharya Kriplani, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Nehru and Menon were all well known for
their political lives. BS Soman and SM Nanda became Chiefs of naval staff,
Krishnan who took over from Nanavati at INS Mysore, commanded INS Vikrant and
became Chief of Southern Command, to oversee the sinking of the PNS Ghazi and the
1971 Pak surrender, while many others including Inspector Lobo wrote books or
recounted their memories for others. Bhai Pratap did not live long after the
pardon, the great man who built the busy Kandla port moved to London and passed
away in 1967.
In 1962, Menon beat Kriplani in the Bombay elections, and
Rajni Patel was the key person for him at that time. Jethmalani became Menon’s
translator for his campaigning speeches in 1962 and rose to become one of the
finest lawyers in India. Menon’s career graph tumbled south after the Chinese
incursions and he left the political main stage, soon after.
When you look back, this case became what it was, as RD
Pradhan reasons, only because of Krishna Menon’s strong sense of loyalty to a
serving officer. But when the China event happened, many who served under Menon
in the armed forces ganged up in revolt, made him a scapegoat, and ensured his
removal from the ministry. Menon did not utter a word about all this, other
than saying good things about his peers and subordinates. That is life, I
guess….
The trial according to Jaffe - was significant in Indian
legal history not because of popular politics or its sensationalism. These were
nothing new in India. And it certainly should not be famous for being ‘the last
jury trial in India,’ which it was not. Instead, the Nanavati trial perhaps
should be better remembered as the culmination of decades of anti-jury
rhetoric, especially among the judicial establishment.
The bad blood between the communities had dissipated by the time
I started working in Bombay in the mid-80s. I knew many Parsis and Sindhis from
my office days in Bombay, I fondly remember Nena our Sindhi receptionist, and Noreen,
our Parsi stenographer, who arranged a Parsi dabba lunch for me right through
my years there.
And without a doubt, I miss Bombay, now ‘Mumbai’…I will go
back someday soon if only to walk through those streets which I once traversed
- treading on foot, the BEST double-deckers and the suburban trains if only to
relive those days …
Until then…..
References
Mumbai Fables – Gyan Prakash
Commander Nanavati & the Unwritten Law – Emily Hahn (The New Yorker Nov 1960)
RS and LS debate records, High Court & Supreme Court rulings
After Nanavati: The Last Jury Trial in India? - James Jaffe
‘Not The Right People’_ Why Jury Trials were Abolished in India -James Jaffe
Sensational Love Scandals and their After-lives: The Epic Tale of Nanavati - Sabeena Gadihoke
On the Case of the State Against Kawas Maneckshaw Nanavati – Ashok H Desai
A Chequered brilliance: the many lives of V.K. Krishna Menon – Jairam Ramesh
Ram Jethmalani – Nalini Gera
Bare acts – The honorable murder – Arathi Sethi
Never a dull moment – RD Pradhan
Love, death, and scandal in Bombay – Murali M Menon
Bhai Pratap, Tribute to a Forgotten Hero (Sahapedia) – Saaz Agarwal
Trivia
Dishoom, the cookbook introduces a cocktail, named Commander
after this case, made with navy strength gin, pepper, absinthe, kamm & sons
( a spicy London aperitif)
"Quid pro quo" is a Latin phrase that means
"something for something" or "this for that". It is used to
describe an exchange of goods, services, favors, or money, where one transfer
is dependent on the other.
Turpitude - is a legal expression designating an act or
behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the
community, i.e. one that is contrary to justice, honesty, or morality and one
which shocks the public conscience as being inherently base, vile, or depraved.
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