A high-profile trial that ended the jury run

It was in 1959, in what was then Bombay, that people first heard of the high-profile crime of passion that was to inspire many books and films.

While the state was still in its infancy, the case of Kawas Nanavati versus the state of Maharashtra was fast moving into the pages of India’s legal history.

The story of the promising naval commandant who shot down his British wife’s lover, would soon become legend among those who witnessed the case. The accused was Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, and the deceased, a well-to-do Casanova named Prem Bhagwandas Ahuja who had an illicit affair with Sylvia. An enraged Nanavati had put an end to the betrayal by pumping three bullets into Ahuja, his friend of 15 years.

The case was a milestone in many ways. The Nanavati trial was the last jury trial in India. The trial judge presiding over the case  was convinced that the jury that proclaimed Nanavati ‘not guilty’ in a verdict of 8:1 was misled. So, he referred the case to the high court.

As the scene of action shifted to the Bombay high court, then public prosecutor, late chief justice of India, YV Chandrachud, and upcoming criminal lawyer and today’s legal luminary, Ram Jethmalani — who was a watching advocate on behalf of Ahuja’s sister Mamie —joined forces to ensure that Nanavati was convicted for what he had done.

Meanwhile, Nanavati became a popular figure as the Rusi Karanjia-run newspaper Blitz kept the nation riveted to the story.

The prosecution’s line was this: Nanavati was seething with anger when his wife confessed to her relationship with Ahuja on April 27, 1959. He brought a revolver from the naval armory and headed straight to Ahuja’s house, where he found him with only a towel draped around his waist.

An angry Nanavati asked Ahuja if he would marry Sylvia and accept her children. It was Ahuja’s brazen reply, “Will I marry every woman I sleep with?” that set the trigger on him.

Rallies and signature campaigns demanding Nanavati’s release — largely organised by the Parsi community — followed. According to media reports dating back to the time, young women even wrote love letters to the good-looking naval officer, hoping he would divorce his ‘promiscuous’ wife and run into their arms. The case created such a buzz that Nanavati revolvers and Ahuja towels began selling like hot cakes.

After all the hoopla, Chandrachud and Jethmalani were successful in nailing Nanavati by proving wrong the defence’s claim that it was an accident. Nanavati got life for murder. “The case was a turning point in my career. Since then, there has been no looking back for me,” Jethmalani had said in an earlier interview. The Supreme Court also upheld the sentence.

However, following public outcry over the verdict, the then governor of Maharashtra, Vijayalaxmi Pandit granted pardon to Nanavati in 1960. After his release, the Nanavatis — Kawas, Sylvia and their three children moved to Canada, never to return.