|
Or was there something he knew about the affair and
willingly turned a blind eye? Was the affair not without his connivance…
The reaction to Sylvia's confession is immediate
and carried out with clinical clarity.
Nanavati refuses to go to the movie. Nothing is done
imperfectly. He drops his wife and children at the theatre and promises
to pick them up at around 6 pm. Picks up a gun on a false pretext.
Drives down to Ahujas office and then home and shoots him pointblank.
Three shots one after the other in 50 seconds. All of the above
was proved.
According to a former CJI of India, Nanavati had known about the
Prem - Sylvia friendship. Prem was a long time friend and he had
let him have "fun" with Sylvia as long as his marriage
was not threatened and as long as Sylvia was not indifferent to
him. But soon, the relationship spun out of control. Sylvia was
now totally besotted with Prem - in body and spirit. She had started
avoiding physical contact with Nanavati. That was not the deal with
Prem. Sylvia was not to fall in love with Prem. Prem had over stepped
his limits. And he suffered the consequences….he adds.
Why was it necessary for Nanavati to carry a gun
if the intention was only to discuss the situation with Prem. Blitz
reported Nanavati carried a gun because according to Sylvia, Prem
had a gun and might have shot kawas.
In the police search no gun was found in Prems house.
Only 24 love letters and several bottles of liquor.
There were several other occurrences out of line.
Unconventionally, he was allowed to be kept in naval custody. Uncharacteristically
Sri Prakasa, the then maharashtra governor granted him suspension
of sentence till the appeal was not decided upon in supreme court.
This when the case was still sub-judice.
Constitutionally, the governor acts on the advice
of his council of minister who take orders from higher up. The governors
would only be following a directive from powers higher up. Nanavati
had close contacts with Krishna Menon and Nehru. He was defence
attaché to Krishna Menon during menons tenure as indias high
commissioner in England. Were political connections at work?
And just after three years in jail, in a dramatic
trade-off, Nanavati was granted a pardon.
The once honourable commander who had murdered and
confessed and as Blitz said bravely faced the world suddenly left
India and became incommunicado.
The Parsi community says, since then he has
not participated in any community affair. Not just Mumbai but he
left India altogether to live a life of anonymity in Canada.
|
