Pietermaritzburg -
“I served that time for nothing”.
That was the response of socialite and businessman Rajiv Narandas after the appeal decision in Pietermaritzburg High Court to downgrade his conviction of the attempted murder to common assault.
In 2011, he and friends Jenaide Charles, Samuel Parusnath and Avishkar Jagganath, were convicted for the attempted murder of Lance Moodley, the son of racehorse owner, Roy.
They were sentenced to three years of correctional supervision which included house arrest during hours dictated by the Department of Correctional Services, 16 hours of community service a month, submitting to various rehabilitation programmes.
The sentence ended last year.
On Wednesday, nearly three years after he appealed the conviction, the Pietermaritzburg High Court’s appeal division reduced the charge to common assault.
The conviction related to an attack outside the Coconut Grove at Blue Lagoon on March 1, 2008, which apparently started because of jealousy over a woman.
The four friends were found guilty of attempted murder and were acquitted of robbery.
Parusnath was also found guilty of malicious damage to property for throwing a brick at Lance Moodley’s car.
After the conviction, Roy Moodley took the stand and pleaded with the court to hand the men a non-custodial sentence because they had been punished enough.
Speaking to the Daily News on Thursday, Roy Moodley said the High Court’s decision this week does not matter.
“The conviction is relevant to us, whether it be assault GBH, common assault or attempted murder. I don’t know what the relevance in him doing such an appeal was,” Moodley said.
Narandas however said that he felt vindicated by the decision.
“I spent 13 days in jail over Easter, I have done community service and have been under house arrest and it turns out to be common assault. I don’t know how to feel just yet.
“I am glad the appeal courts exists, where public Influence cannot disturb,” he said.
Last year, Narandas was sentenced to 18 years for the murder of Veenand Singh in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg after a six-year long trial.
The court found Narandas guilty of stabbing Singh, a former Altech manager and a Buccleuch resident, during a brawl in the parking lot of the Shoukara nightclub in Sandton in 2008.
He is appealing the decision.
A date for when the appeal would be heard had not been set, Narandas said.
Narandas’s lawyer, Zane Haneef, said they were still studying the judgment and may appeal it further to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Daily News