Killer goes to court for throat lozenges

SOCIALITE and convicted murderer Rajiv Narandas has a sore throat – and went as far as the Durban High Court to force prison authorities to hand over medication and throat lozenges.

This emerged nearly a month after his legal team secured a late-night court order‚ over a weekend‚ to have an antibiotic and medicated lozenges delivered to the flamboyant killer‚ in Westville Prison.

But in court yesterday that order was set aside after lawyers acting for the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) punched holes in its legitimacy.

The court heard that Narandas’s mother‚ Rosanne‚ had visited him in prison last month and found him to be unwell.

When prison authorities refused to allow hand-delivered medication from outside the fences‚ the pair turned to court.

No supporting documentation or medical reports had been submitted in support of Narandas’s ailments‚ and the court file contained only a single page.

Advocate Dashendra Naidoo‚ for Correctional Services, said there had been no basis for the order to remain in place.

“Mr Narandas has a sore throat. You don’t get a high court order for just a sore throat‚” he said. “This is not a life or death situation.” Advocate Lee Reddy‚ acting for Narandas‚ said her client remained unwell and was being treated in the prison’s hospital wing.

She said that his sore throat was compounded by other ailments and that the results of a medical report on his condition were still outstanding.

Narandas has been behind bars for just over a year‚ convicted of the 2008 murder of 32-year-old Veenand Singh outside Shoukara nightclub in Sandton.

His legal wrangle with the state stretched over eight years‚ with 37 appearances in the trial court alone.

After his conviction he took his bid for freedom to the Constitutional Court‚ and began serving his sentence when the application failed. –