Those were the days when the seeds of the struggle for freedom sown during what was miscalled ‘the Indian Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857, had begun sprout glowingly all over the sprawling British- ruled India. Many young men fired by the blaze of national spirit burst on the horizon spreading the message of freedom in secret, and also openly, committing acts of protest to tell the world what they sought. Some called them ' misguided youth ', and some branded them as ' traitors’ but they were neither. Indeed they were the heroes of the Indian Freedom Movement. They laid down their precious young lives at the altar of their motherland, Bharatha Matha. The stirring story of one such group of noble patriotic sons of Mother India, which spun round the murder of a British civilian officer, came to be known as " Ashe Murder Case”. It occupies a place of honor in the history of the Indian Freedom Movement.

Robert W. D. E. Ashe, a member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS, also known as the ‘Steel Frame’ of the British Indian Government) and tradition-bound Britisher was then the Sub--Collector at the small sea port town Tuticorin (now Thoothukudi) on the Bay of Bengal in South India. Like most Britishers in India of the day Ashe felt that the British owned India lock, stock and barrel, and Indians were destined only to serve their white alien masters, and their duty was to do and die and not to reason why. He hated Indians who dared to ask him why and the man he hated most in that town famed for pearl fishing was the celebrated patriot V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.

Chidambaram Pillai immortalized under his famous initials VOC (“Va. Vu. Si " in Tamil) was a small town lawyer practising in Tuticorin. Born in Otthapidaram, a place famous for revolutionaries like the cult figure-rebel leader, who was a veritable virile thorn in the flesh of the British, Kattabomman, VOC had imbibed such spirit and threw his lot in the struggle for Indian Freedom. That was the era when lawyers, men of education and professionally trained to fight for causes were in the forefront of public service as leaders of society. Thus VOC emerged as one such leader in his town, and leading champion of the underdog, oppressed, and depressed.

VOC advocated that the Indians should boycott foreign goods especially the British and encourage local products or ‘swadeshi’
goods. This would be one of the ways to drive the alien Englishman from our Motherland and establish Swarajya and Independent India. The words ‘Swarajya’ and ‘Swadeshi’ were in the air in those days and thrilled people. Besides speaking in public VOC floated a corporate enterprise, ' The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company. ' This was indeed a daring move for its day, something extraordinary for a small town lawyer even to dream about but VOC made it. The steam navigation business was then the monopoly of the ruling British and this ‘native ' company attracted good deal of the sea traffic between Tuticorin and Colombo. This business was actually dominated by the British India Steam Navigation Company and VOC made inroads into it. Thus VOC
became not unnaturally perhaps an opponent of the British -owned shipping company.

VOC’s political work, his clout with the public, his shipping business enterprise, all these and more did not please the ruling class.
Indeed they hated him more and one of them was the then Sub-Collector Ashe. He took it into his head, heart, soul, and body to crush this ' cheeky impudent native lawyer ' and he went all out to achieve his mission. He had VOC arrested on sedition and such charges and made several moves to drown the local shipping company. No wonder Ashe in turn became the most hated man himself, considered as one of dangerous hurdles in the pathway to freedom. Someone to be removed from the scene. Fast!

However Ashe received pats and praise from his superiors and he was promoted as Collector and District Magistrate of Tinnevelly (now Thirunelveli).

June 17, 1911... Ashe was travelling by train in a first class compartment and when it stopped at Maniyachi, a railway junction, a
young man made his way into the compartment. Suddenly he whipped out an automatic Browning revolver and shot Ashe dead at point blank range. As crowds, cops and all rushed, he escaped and ran down the un-paved gritty gravelly platform. As cops chased him he ran into a lavatory on the platform and shot himself in the mouth using the same weapon. His name was Vanchinatha Iyer, a Brahmin from Shencottah, then situated in the princely native state of Travancore ruled by its Maharaja. The police found a letter on his body, which suggested a political conspiracy behind the murder. It read as follows, '' Every Indian is at the present time endeavoring to drive out the Englishman who is the enemy of [our] country and to establish ‘Dharma ' and liberty... we 3000 Madrasis have taken a vow. To make it known, I, the least of them did this day commit this act. ''

A search of the dead assailant’s residence brought out more letters which threw more light on the conspiracy. Those mentioned one Arumugham Pillai who had been in touch with Vanchi. He was traced and the British Indian Police got out of this weak- kneed man loads of information. Later he was taken as approver. Another man Somasundaram was also traced and he too cracked at the seams and let out a good heap of sawdust inside. He too turned approver.

The cops did not leave a single stone unturned. Searches were made all over South India and the root of it all pointed to Pondicherry , the port town on the Bay of Bengal, then part of French territory beyond the pale of British India. As the Public Prosecutor of Madras High Court, C.F. Napier commented later during the trial, '' The extraordinary way in which the town of Pondicherry seems to permeate this case, ” this historic town of Dupleix and Anandarangam Pillai played a significant role in the fight for Indian Freedom.

Pondicherry being alien French territory proved a haven for Indian revolutionaries hounded and hunted by the British Indian Police. The friendly quiet beautiful small town gave political asylum to great freedom the fighters like Aurobindo Ghosh, V.V. S. Iyer, a lawyer turned rebel who trained men in armed combat and guerrilla warfare, and Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar, the great rebel poet of India whose works in Tamil were banned by the British Indian Government. Many publications in English and Tamil were produced here and circulated secretly in British Indian territory in spite of the ban on them. Indeed Pondicherry was a veritable factory of patriotic fervor.

Soon the police rounded up as many as fourteen men who were charged with various offences under the Indian Penal Code like murder, waging war against the King-Emperor of India, and criminal conspiracy. The accused were the following...) Neelakanta, alias Brahmachari, a Brahmin youth of twenty one, a journalist, fiery patriot and person of considerable persuasive skills and charm, and the leader of a conspiracy to murder Ashe, according to the police)...

2) Sankarakrishna Iyer, a young farmer ...
3) Madathukadai Chidambaram Pillai (no relation of VOC), a green-grocer ...
4) Muthukumarasami Pillai, a pot vendor in his forties…
5) Subbaiah Pillai, a lawyer’s clerk...
6) Jagannatha Ayyangar, a young cook...
7) Harihara Iyer, a young merchant...
8) Bapu Pillai, a farmer... .
9) V. Desikachari, a merchant...
10) Vembu Iyer, a cook…
11) Savadi Arunachalam Pillai, a farmer...
12) Alagappa Pillai, a teen-aged farmer...
13) ‘Vande Matharam’ Subramania Iyer, a schoolmaster, and
14) Pichumani Iyer, a cook.

Altogether a motley crowd of men mostly in their twenties of different professions and castes but all of them had something in common. They were all patriots burning with desire and thirst for freedom, their muscles and all set to drive out the Imperialistic British from India.

In the ordinary course this case would have been tried by the District and Sessions Judge at Tinnevelly. But in view of its political
importance and the murder victim being a Britisher and an ICS Officer at that, the case was sent up to the High Court at Madras. Here a Full Bench of three judges consisting of Sir Arnold White, then the Chief Justice of Madras, Mr. . Justice Ayling, and Mr. Justice C. Sankaran Nair (later Sir C. Sankaran Nair) tried it as a special case. The case not surprisingly attracted attention all over India and even beyond achieving the status of a ‘cause celebre’.

C. F. Napier, Public Prosecutor assisted by T. Richmond and A. Sundara Sastrigal appeared for the Crown, while a glittering array of eminent Madras lawyers defended the accused. Neelakanta was the defended by a British Barrister, J.C. Adam. Another Barrister, a brilliant and mercurial Indian, a great patriot and future leader who gave away his wealth and all for his native land, Tanguturi Prakasam appeared for Sankarakrishna and three other accused.

(In later years T. Prakasam known as ' Andhra Kesari'- the Lion of Andhra- occupied several high positions in South India as Chief
Minister of Madras, and Andhra Pradesh, Central minister at Delhi and others. He began as pleader in Rajamundry now in Andhra Pradesh where he quickly scaled to the top. Realizing that the District Headquarters town was too small an arena for a person of his brilliance and talents he went to England and qualified him as Barrister. Back home he set up practice at Madras where he soon made a mark and moved to the forefront of the Bar. Sadly in recent years this great patriot and warm human soul has been sidelined.)

M. D. Devadoss (later Mr. Justice Devadoss), J. L. Rozario, B. Narasimha Rao, T. M. Krishnaswami Iyer (a future leader of the Madras bar and later, sometime Chief Justice of the Travancore High Court. He was also a great savant of Hindu religious lore.), L. A. Govindaraghava Iyer, S. T. Srinivasagopalachari, (a high-ranking Freemason, an eminent epigraphist and numismatist with a fabulous collection of ancient coins of solid gold!) and V. Ryru Nambiar held the brief for the other accused.

Who was Nilakanta Bramhachari, as he came to be known A person of some education born in Erukkoor in Thanjavur district he had been engaged from his late teens in journalism and was drawn to revolutionaries like Aurobindo Ghosh, then the idol of Indian youth. Soon he moved to Pondicherry where he published a Tamil magazine 'Suryodaya'. The British Indian government promptly proscribed it in March 1910. He ran other publications too which were also banned but he managed to circulate copies in British India with the help of friends some of whom were accused in this case. He also worked on other plans and methods to promote his cause, ideals, and ideas. He toured the Tinnevelly district meeting people, and recruiting volunteers to drive out the alien British and attain freedom.

The Ashe Murder trial was a prolonged affair and the hearing at Madras went on for long period of ninety three days between September 1911 and January 1912. Witnesses of over hundred gave evidence on both sides and a mass of the documentary evidence like letters, diaries, publications, records and reports was filed in this case. It was a quite a task for the three judges who sat and heard the case without the benefit of a jury. A unique trial indeed in many ways.

The Prosecution case was that the conspiracy was initiated by Nilakanta as early as April 1910 when he toured places like Thenkasi and conducted meetings in secret. Here he exhorted people to take cudgels against the alien rulers and strain every nerve, sinew, and cell to drive away the Englishman out of the land. During such meetings he met and made friends with Vanchi who felt drawn to Nilakanta at once.

The meetings understandably in secret had all the characteristics of an esoteric secret society with its own rituals and rites. One
witness Arumugham Pillai described it thus... '' There was a picture of Goddess Kali. There were red powder (kunkum), sacred ash
(vibhuthi), and flowers. On the floor sat four or five people in a line. Nilakanta sat a little away and wrote on sheets of paper. We
put that red powder into water and made a solution of it and each of us applied it on the paper. Now it was the white man's blood... on the top of the paper ‘Vande Matharam’ was written... We should kill all white men…. We must sacrifice our lives, person, and property for this society. But whoever reveals the affairs of this society, he shall go to hell and he will be killed.... As we drink the red powder solution, now to us it is the white man’s blood.... ''

When they corresponded among themselves Nilakanta, Vanchi and the lot used phony names to avoid detection. Such fake names were written down on a sheet against each name and the concern man pricked his finger with a knife and affixed his thumb impression in blood!

Vanchi was highly inspired by his guru and the revered members of the Pondicherry band who advocated and justified violence and sabotage as the rightful tools to achieve their goals. He was equally drawn to VOC who suffered immensely, a victim of that ICS despot Ashe. His drastic and Draconian measures and over -aggressive methods to put down VOC kindled bitterness, rage and hostility against him in the hearts of these spirited men. This spark soon grew into a blaze of anger. Nilakanta and his band had ideas and ambitions of murdering all Britishers in India on a particular day and Ashe, like a different kind of Abu Ben Adam topped the list!

The Crown let in heavy doses of evidence, oral and documentary to prove Nilakanta, Vanchi and others were conspirators whose sole aim was to kill Ashe who by now had become the boss at the district, as the Collector. As the actual killer Vanchi had shot himself to avoid capture and being forced to let out secrets the Crown had to work hard to make the charges stick to Nilakanta and his band. Much of its evidence came from the approvers who were in other words accomplices.

According to the Indian Evidence Act, the position of the reliability of approver’s evidence is not clear-cut, and precise. Section 133 of the Indian Evidence Act states that, ' a conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.’ Whereas Section 114 states by a way of an illustration, ‘the court may presume that an accomplice is unworthy of credit unless he is corroborated in material particulars.’ And this has exceptions too! There is a mass of case law on this point in India and indeed it figures in most in every other case of murder and other crimes.

J. C . Adam, T. Prakasam and the other defense lawyers raised this point and argued it hotly and also subjected the approvers to severe cross-examinations lasting several days. Many witnesses were also attacked on the ground that they were testifying against the accused because of the pressure of the British Indian police who created the evidence for this case. On behalf of Nilakanta a plea of ‘alibi’ was set up and witnesses were summoned to state on oath that he was not present at places like Shencottah where he met Vanchi and others as charged by the Prosecution.

The Defense lawyers fought with all their ability for their clients. Prakasam rose to rare heights of forensic eloquence, displaying his abundant talents and skills. With this trial his name became synonymous with the Ashe Murder Case. His reputation as criminal
lawyer rose further to place him among the front rankers of the Madras High Court Bar. .

Interestingly the decision of the Full Bench was not unanimous. Sir Arnold White and Ayling delivered a joint judgment while Sankaran Nair delivered his own. He wrote a brilliant judgement, which serves as an excellent resource material for the history of the Indian Freedom Movement of the period. Justice Nair even translated into excellent English the famous patriotic song written by Subramania Bharathiyar, '' Endru thaniyum intha suthanthira dhaagam…” - ' “When will this thirst for liberty and freedom be quenched...” So wrote the Judge whom in later years would he fight for the country's freedom! The song was banned by the British but musicians and such continued to sing it in public with the fear of arrest lurking in their bosoms!

Justice Nair came to the conclusion that the charge of murder had not been legally proved against the accused while he held the charges of waging war against the King proved against Nilakanta and another but not the rest.

Finally the Court by a majority decision awarded Nilakanta seven years rigorous imprisonment and Sankarakrishnan was given four years. The remaining accused was sentenced to varying terms of lesser imprisonment.

Appeals were filed against the judgement and a Bench of five judges made up of Sir Ralph Benson, John Wallace, Miller, Abdul Rahim and P. R. Sundara Iyer heard them.

C. J. Napier, now in the Advocate -General appeared for the Crown assisted by T. Richmond while the accused were defended by T. Prakasam and others.

The appeals were argued on the legal grounds, which were the only issues allowed to be raised in such an appeal. It focused on the value and reliability of the approver’s evidence and legal admissibility of some of the Prosecution witnesses.

Three judges, Benson, Wallis and Miller held that the appeals could not be sustained while Rahim differed and opined that the appellants should be acquitted in toto. Sundara Iyer expressed doubts about the conviction and left it at that. The Full Bench finally dismissed the appeals and confirmed the sentences. The final decision of the Ashe Murder Case was as expected because of its political nature of the murder of a British civilian officer and Nilakanta and the rest spent their terms in prison under painful and pitiful conditions.

Vanchi came to be hailed as a martyr and found a place in the Roll Call of Honor of the Indian Freedom Movement. Many years after India became free an agitation was put up successfully by locals to name the Maniyachi railway junction after Vanchi as homage and tribute to his revered memory.

Sadly Nilakanta Brahmachari is hardly remembered today except by some enthusiastic historians of the Indian Freedom Movement. The average literary Indian of today has hardly heard of his name. In his later years this great soul gave up politics, perhaps disillusioned and took to spiritualism. He called himself Omkarnath Swami and sought solace in the world of religion and philosophy.

One cannot but wonder how Nilakanta would have thought and reacted had he been alive in the India of today...!